TITANIC
by Depopulating
Summary: .: Two very different lovers find themselves on the doomed, yet 'unsinkable' Titanic. People die and foggy cars are taken advantage of, with a side of wit. :. SoraRiku AxelRoxas LeonCloud
1. The Heart of the Ocean

**Dear Readers,  
**It's the second year anniversary! On this day two years ago, this story was posted. And since those two years, my writing has improved, so I thought I might as well read over it and fix it up again, just like last year. So please enjoy!

_-Tsuki (Disbanded Matrimony)_

**Major edits: **Chapters one and two have been made into one, so that chapter ten could be cut in half and made into two chapters, so it's not as long as it was before, but I still wanted to keep the chapter count to an even ten. Let's face it—chapter ten was a long ass chapter. Even_ I_ had trouble getting through it in one shot.

**Author's Note: **_This story was co-written b__y__ iShiznitch__, formerly known as Broken Vows, and before that, Rios Masquerade, whose nickname is Ame. Most of the laughable parts she added in, so I consider that co-writing. _

**Disclaimer: **_Ame and I don't own Kingdom Hearts… or Titanic…but we wish we did…_

* * *

**TITANIC**

* * *

Everyone crowded around the safe, knowing that everything was going to be worth it; all the money, all the studying, all the boats, all the searching, all the crew—_everything_ would be worth it. The Heart of the Ocean, one of the most expensive pieces of jewelry in history, was inside. Yuna, a clever treasure hunter, part vacuum cleaner saleswoman, held an unknown tool in her hands, getting closer to the lock that held the safe closed. Rikku and Paine, her witty partners, stood behind her, getting more fidgety by the second.

She grabbed the lock, tightening the grip until it busted in half. The now open door clanged onto the deck. Yuna squealed without realizing it, receiving awkward stares from everyone around her, but she couldn't care less; she had found what she wanted.

She let the tool drop onto the ground, and she put her hand inside the water soaked safe, pulling out damaged items. Yuna grinned fiercely in anticipation of her greatest find yet. But as she dug deeper, finding nothing but worn papers and pens soaked in mud, the truth sunk in—the unbelievable, embarrassing truth.

"Shit."

* * *

Sora rolled his wheelchair in front of the television, an ancient-looking male ready to be buried. He turned his head slightly, looking for the remote that was only a few inches away on the table. 

Apparently, he was too late in his life to move his fat ass and get it himself, so he compromised with the next best thing.

"Tidus! _Tidus_!" Sora screeched, annoyed."Tidus, you waste of a boy, move off your fat larded ass and hand me the damn remote that you blatantly left out of my damn reach!"

His grandson, about twenty, entered the room. He sighed as he rushed over to the irritating old man and handed him the remote, too tired to respond to his grandfather's insults.

"Daft whippersnappers these days. No respect for the old and the crippled." Sora pressed the buttons with the tips of his wrinkled fingers, ending up on the news channel. He became immediately interested, his eyes suddenly going wide. A woman appeared on the screen.

"We didn't find the object we were looking for, but we did find some other interesting artifacts," she said, holding up a picture of a piece of blue jewelry. Sora gasped. The camera turned to another female carefully spraying a picture with water. "Here we found an old piece of art. The identity of the woman depicted in this painting remains unknown."

The woman spraying looked up from her work. "Yuna, it's a man."

The woman, Yuna, turned around, slightly embarrassed. "No, it's a woman. Men don't have—why are you giving me that look? I hate that look!" she said crossly. This was one of the biggest discoveries of the century, and Paine had to go and make an idiot of herself. Paine only sighed and pointed.

"You see there? That's a male...thing."

Yuna moved closer to it, narrowing her eyes. "Can I get a microscope, please?" she asked Paine, who handed her one promptly. "Wait! I think I see it! Oh, that man has a bad case of man boobs."

"I do not!" Sora shouted at the screen, making Tidus come in once more.

"Grandfather, what is it? Do we need to visit Closet Land again?"

"What? Closet Land?"

"All the fun of being locked in a closet."

"What?"

"Closet Land! Locked in a closet!"

Sora put his hand to his ear, trying to hear. "What? I can't hear those useless yaps of yours! Hand me the damn phone, you pig!"

Tidus rolled his eyes and gave his grandfather the phone. Sora snatched it away and looked at the screen, dialing the numbers as he saw them. Tidus sat down on the couch, making sure that his senile grandfather didn't do anything stupid.

"Hello? Hello? _Hello_?"

Sora hit the phone against the arm of his wheelchair, although Tidus clearly heard a voice on the other line.

"Hello? Is anyone there? _Hello_? How retarded are you?"

Tidus reached over and took the phone away from him, speaking into it himself. "Yes, I'm very sorry. My grandfather doesn't have the best hearing," Tidus apologized, looking awkwardly at the old man beside him. Sora still had his hand up and was yelling into the non-existent phone.

Tidus gently shoved Sora's arm, continuing the conversation. "Yes, my grandfather's says that he's that man. Yeah. Uh huh. Well, I'm not entirely sure if he's sane right now. Apparently this new drug he's on prevents hallucinations…" He looked at Sora again. Sora looked back at him. Tidus looked into Sora's dull, but still deep blue eyes. Sora drooled a little. Tidus grimaced. "Yeah, he seems ... generally sound."

* * *

Yuna smoothed out her long skirt, and looked to Paine and Rikku. Rikku smiled and nodded at nothing, while Paine simply rolled her eyes.

"Tell me again,_ why_ were talking to an obvious liar? If this guy is who he claims he is, he'd be like—"

"Two hundred and thirteen years old!" Rikku smiled, proud of her mathematics ability.

Paine gave Rikku a blank stare. "Yeah…no."

Rikku continued her insufferable whining, but no one cared.

Paine looked at Yuna. "So, this old, crippled, well-endowed man is supposed to be here… when?"

Yuna glared at her fellow treasure hunter. "He may not be lying. For all we know, he is indeed the wo – MAN in the picture."

"He'd have to be at least a hundred years old," said Paine, turning to her comrade. Rikku would've taken this time to state what was on her mind, but she was currently busy trying to prove that seventeen plus eighty-three was two hundred and thirteen.

Yuna sighed. "We will never know unless we actually talk to this … man. Plus, if he's who he says he is, he might know about the sparkly diamond thingy that we're supposed to be looking for!"

At the sound of 'sparkly', Rikku looked up, as if in a daze. "Sparkly…diamond?" She slowly dragged her feet over to Yuna in an almost possessed state of being.

"Yes. What, did you think we did all this to find some stupid picture of a naked he-she?"

"Maybe? But—" She was quickly cut off by the sound of an approaching helicopter. Paine could swear she heard Rikku yell "I'm an idiot!" but the sound of the rotors made it impossible to confirm.

They all looked up, grimacing at what they saw. In the window was an old man, smashing his face against it. They all took a cautionary step back, watching as the man rubbed his nose and lips on the glass, creating marks on the window.

As the helicopter landed, Yuna went up the door. Paine and Rikku hesitated, fearing that the guy had some crazy rabid disease or something that they could catch. Instead, they just smiled politely and waved.

A group of men in orange jump suits came out, followed by the crazy loon in the wheel chair. They raised their arms into the air to grab the chair and then set the complaining man down gently, trying to get away from him as quick as possible. The old man had his finger in his ear and was wiping the orange wax all over the place.

"Hello, Sora!" Yuna yelled over the noise, shaking Sora's _other _hand. "I'm Yuna! I'm so pleased to meet you!"

Sora stared up blankly at her. "What?"

Yuna bent down to his level.

"I'm Yuna!"

"What?"

"YUNA!"

Sora shook his head. "I don't want tuna! We have important matters to discuss you stupid girl! Be polite and introduce yourself!"

Yuna stood up and smacked herself in the head. A younger man stepped on to the concrete, putting his hands on Sora's chair. She put her hand down and smiled at him, holding out her arm. By this time the helicopter was already off of the landing and flying away.

"Hi, I'm Yuna." she said, shaking his hand.

"Oh, hello. I'm his grandson, Tidus. Nice to meet you, Miss."

During their conversation, Sora slyly reached over and started lifting up Yuna's skirt, a smug smile upon his crusty lips. He got closer and closer—_SMACK!_ Yuna hit Sora reflexively and gasped, realizing what she had just done. Sora started screaming in pain. Tidus quickly bent down and started shaking him, trying to stop his screeching. "That's what you get, you old perv!"

"I'm so sorry, sir," she apologized.

Tidus waved his hand, standing up. "Please don't apologize. He's, well… him."

Sora continued screaming bloody murder. "Damn girl! I should slap you with my enormous blue polished rock!"

Everyone stopped.

"What?" Yuna questioned. "You… you have the Heart of the Ocean?!" She smiled and turned to a happy Rikku and Paine. "Whoo, girls! We've got it now! Rikku, get your nimble retarded fingers over here and grab it! Paine, knock the guys out! The sparkly thingy is OURS!"

Sora stopped crying immediately. They both stared at the girls.

"Err...sorry."

* * *

Sora touched an old and worn comb gently with the tips of his fingers, staring at it with interest. "This was mine! How extraordinary," he said, looking at it happily. "The gold writing, the silver sides—how I always _hated _it!" His voice became higher as he threw it across the room.

Yuna, Rikku, and Paine stood stiffly, just barely missing the thrown comb. Rikku leaned against Yuna. "This guy is_ crazy_."

Sora growled and turned in his chair, pointing at them with an old spork. "I heard that!"

Rikku whimpered and stood up straight, eyeing the safe yet possibly dangerous item. Sora threw it and all the girls duck in fear. "I'm going to tell all you whores about my enormously long story 

about what happened to me on the Titanic, even though you don't give a damn and you just want to skip to the sex scenes," he yelled, pointing at the chairs. "Now sit down and shut up!"

Yuna, Rikku, and Paine did as they were told, still frightened.

"There are sex scenes?" Rikku asked quietly. Paine elbowed her in the ribs.

Sora smiled and put his hands on his lap, ready to start his story.

* * *

"It's been… however so many years ago," Sora said, looking down at his hands: cold and dry, and weirdly squishy like the fungi on his big toe.

"That's okay, just try to remember anything. Anything at all—," said Rikku. She fell off the chair, avoiding the random object that was thrown at her. Paine was greatly amused and put a hand over her mouth to stop from smile. Sora continued, eyeing the girls crossly.

"It's been... like, a hundred years, and I can still smell the fresh paint, the china that had never been used, the sheets that had never been slept in, the odor of those that refused to wear anti-perspirants, since there weren't any."

"Really? I can't count that far."All eyes turned to Rikku still on the floor. She pouted and crossed her arms. "What?"

"Shut up!" Sora growled. He placed his hands on the arms of the wheelchair and pushed himself up, his legs wobbling. Tidus quickly grabbed his grandfather's hand and pulled down, making Sora plop down back into the chair. He, surprisingly, didn't protest and his attention quickly turned to a blue light that entered the room. He smiled and clapped, staring dazedly at it like a child on Christmas."Pretty…"

Yuna, Paine, and Rikku cocked their eyebrows, looking at each other and back at Sora. He pointed behind them, still smiling widely. They all turned in their chairs, following the direction of his finger, watching as another woman came toward them. She pushed a large TV on a cart; its solid blue screen kept Sora quiet, making everyone happy.

She smiled and nodded, walking back out of the room. Rikku squealed and quickly pressed a button on the black object. She stood up straight and cleared her throat, ready to begin her presentation.

"We've put together the world's largest database on the Titanic. Okay, here..." she started, waiting for the video to appear. The screen soon showed a computer animated graphic, obviously of the Titanic. The boat then rubbed against an animated iceberg, followed by a close up on the side.

"The boat hit the berg on the right-hand side, and it sort of bumped along, punching holes down the side. Then it flooded in the front sections, and the water spilled over the tops of the partitions, going toward the back of the ship.

"As its bow was going down, the stern came up, slow at first, and then faster and faster until its whole ass was sticking up out of the water. And that's a big ass! A Yuna sized ass! The body of the ship couldn't hold it, so…" She made a ripping sound in time with the animation, which showed the boat separating.

"...it split, right down to the ship's structural element, which acted like a big hinge. Then the front of the vessel swung down and the stern, the back of the ship, fell back, but the weight of the front pulled the stern up vertical, and then the bow section detached, heading for the bottom. The back bobbed like a cork for a second, flooded and went under about 2:20 a.m., two hours and forty minutes after the collision."

The animation then followed the bow section as it sunk. Sora's eye twitched. Tidus smiled as Paine sighed. "I didn't realize she knew so many big words. Actually, I'm surprised she pronounced most…well, _some _of them correctly."

Yuna nodded her head in agreement, still mad about the 'Yuna sized ass' comment mentioned a few seconds ago. Sora drooled… again.

"So, what did you think, Sora?" Rikku questioned.

"Grandfather?" Tidus said, shoving Sora's arm. He didn't do anything. "Old man?"

Tidus pushed Sora's arm harder. Sora jumped and squeaked, but quickly forgot about it as he yawned. "What, what is it?" he groaned, sifting in his chair.

Had this been an anime, this is where all the characters would have sweat dropped and fallen, but it's not, so they all just sighed. "What did you think about the little video that Miss Rikku kindly showed us?" Tidus politely grinned, earning one back from her.

Sora slumped down in his chair, looking completely tired. "I'm what now?"

Tidus rolled his eyes and turned to the girls, whispering, "I'm sorry, his hearing is a little out there."

"Oh, that's okay. We don't need to—"

Rikku was cut off as Tidus quickly shook his head. "No, please. I'm sure you worked hard on that and my grandfather needs to learn how to keep focused. His therapist said so."

He turned back to Sora and yelled in his furry ear, "DID YOU LIKE THE VIDEO THAT MS. BODINE KINDLY SHOWED YOU?"

Sora raised his hand and smacked Tidus on the cheek. "I'm old, not deaf!"

His grandson didn't seem the least bit surprised. He was about to touch Sora's arm when another hand stopped him. He looked up to see Yuna, smiling down at him. "I think I can take it from here—"

"Tidus," he inserted, grinning.

She nodded graciously. "I can take it from here, _Tidus_."

She sat down on the table in front of Sora, grabbing a paper behind her. She carefully watched the old man as he did the same, eyeing every movement that she made. She slowly held the paper out in front of her and put it close to Sora's face.

"Sora," she said loudly, making sure that Sora could hear her. He poked his head out from the side of the photo. "You see this?"

Sora nodded, staring back at the paper.

"This is the Heart of the Ocean. But you already know that," she chuckled slightly. "Today it would be worth more than the Hope Diamond."

Sora started laughing. "It was a dreadful heavy thing," he said, waving the picture away. "I wore it because Kairi wouldn't, which actually sounds pretty gay, thinking back on it."

"The last time anyone has heard of it was right before the Titanic disaster. It had to have gone down with the ship." Yuna turned toward Tidus. "See the date?"

Tidus looked at the drawing of his naked grandfather and read the date on the bottom right corner aloud. "April 14, 1912."

"If your grandfather is who he says he is, he was wearing the diamond the day Titanic sank." Paine added. Yuna glared at her before turning back to Sora.

"And that makes you my new best friend," she said, smiling sweetly.

Sora's eyes brightened considerably. "Friends with benefits?"

"No." Yuna managed to keep her sweet smile while thoughts of death and beheadings coursed through her mind.

Sora's eye's dulled and twitched. He frowned. "Then that's just creepy"

Yuna sighed and stood, taking a tape recorder from Rikku. "Since we have nothing else better to do, I guess we better start this now."

She clicked a button and set it down on the table, eagerly staring down at Sora.

His eyes slowly shut. Tidus poked Sora in the arm, making him open them again."Huh? What?" he said sleepily. His mouth opened and he sunk back into the chair, waving his arms around madly. "Tidus! _Tidus_! Come quick, a molester! She's trying to rape me! Tidus! Fat Boy! Help!"

Tidus growled and stood in between Yuna and Sora. "Shut up, you old ass! Now tell your damn story already!"

Sora gulped and readied himself to start his story once again. Rikku jumped giddily. "Ooh! Ooh! A flashback!"

"Be quiet, you stupid twit." Paine glared at Rikku and turned to Sora again. "Please, continue."

Sora looked at her, confused. "I can't continue. I haven't even started yet."

Paine shifted feet. "Sir, I only meant—"

"Are you trying to tell me that I can continue something without starting said something? I am almost fifty three percent positive that defies some sort of law."

It was Paine's eye's turn to twitch uncomfortably. Sora sighed. "I'm surrounded by idiots. Now, as I was trying to _start_…"

* * *

The gleaming white upper part of Titanic rose mountainously beyond the rail, and above that the brown funnels stood against the sky like the pillars of a grand temple. Crewmen moved across the deck, small dots against the large scale of the steamer. On the pier, horse-drawn vehicles and motorcars moved slowly through the dense crowd.

_Titanic was called the 'Ship of Dreams'… _

General excitement was in the air, and people embraced in tearful farewells and waved and shouted to friends and relatives on the decks above. The crowd of hundreds blackened the pier next to Titanic like ants on a jelly sandwich.

"That sounds so corny!" Rikku pouted, interrupting Sora. She was smacked and glared at by multiple people.

_As I was saying… _

A white car pushed through the crowd, leaving a wake in the press of people. Around the gorgeous cars, people were lining up to board the ship, jostling with hustling seamen and barking officials.

The car stopped to allow the driver to jump out. He scurried over to the side door, opening it. A delicate hand appeared from the inside, waiting for it to be helped. The driver quickly grabbed it, helping the young woman out. This red-haired beauty elegantly stepped out of the vehicle, careful not to snag the bottom of her long pink dress. She lifted her head, showing off her dazzling blue eyes from underneath her large round hat.

_Her name was Kairi, my fiancé._

_The most annoying bitch. Ever. _

The door on the other side of the car opened without assistance. A young man stepped out, his odd brown spikes as straight as he could get them for the first day of sailing. His deep blue eyes, similar to his fiancé's, were as vast as the ocean, consuming anyone who looked into them. This was Sora, much better looking in his younger years, even if his body resembled that of a twelve-year-old. At the same time, Cloud, their valet, stepped out of another car, reaching over to open the door behind his. Yuffie, Kairi's mother, stepped out, as well as her personal servants, Marlene and Denzel. They gasped as they saw the ship before them.

"I don't see what the big deal is. It doesn't _look_ any bigger than the Biggest Ship Ever at the Present Time that we sailed upon two weeks ago," Kairi declared, examining her nails.

Cloud laughed. "It's over a _hundred feet_ longer than the Biggest Ship Ever at the Present Time, and far more luxurious. You can insult some things, Kairi, but not the Titanic."

Kairi rolled her eyes and rested her arm around Sora's, her mother eyeing her to do so. Sora leaned back. "Your daughter is too hard to impress, Yuffie," he said.

Yuffie smiled kindly and looked closer at the ship.

"How could she have NOT seen it already?"

_Shut the hell up, Rikku! _

"Sorry…."

"Titanic, the ship that they say is unsinkable, correct?" Yuffie asked, heading toward the dock. She received many glares from random bystanders, who shall now be referred to as the NPC's.

"Knock on wood! You're going to jinx us!" This advice was ignored, because no one ever actually listens to the NPC's.

Kairi's arm slipped out of Sora's as she caught up with her mother, talking about some random topic just as a porter quickly came toward the men.

"Sir, you'll have to check your baggage through the main terminal, round that way—,"

Cloud nonchalantly handed the man five dollars, a huge tip in those days apparently. "I put my trust in you," he said.

"Yes sir! My pleasure, sir," the porter exclaimed. The young brunette followed the females as Cloud stayed behind. He led the porter around the back of the car, showing him the luggage. The porter's face grew pale.

"These trunks here and 12 more in the other car," he said, leaving the man. The porter frowned and frantically looked around for some cargo-handlers to help him.

_It was the ship of dreams, but only to everyone else. I was trying to impress a woman I wasn't in love with and trying to make the rest of my family happy; to me it was a slave ship, taking me back to America in chains. _

_I was everything a well-brought up boy should be. Inside, I was screaming. Yes, my friends, I was EMO._

* * *


	2. Tickets to the Titanic

**Author's Note:**_Don't be worried about the beginning. The self-insert part doesn't last past the beginning of this chapter__.__ You'll see why. We're not usually that fangirlish. Tsuki is the writer, Ame is the co-writer. We also suggest wiki-ing "the __Flying Spaghetti Monster" if you don't know what it is already_

**Disclaimer: **_We don't own Kingdom Hearts or Titanic, but Riku and Axel and Demyx and Cloud and Leon and Vincent and (you get the idea…) own us. We also do not own Monty Python, because we'd be rich and happier if we did._

* * *

The Titanic was several blocks away, towering above the buildings like the skyline of a city. The steamers' whistle echoed across the town. Two young women, a blonde and a brunette, dressed in long dresses and fancy hats covered their ears at the piercing sound. The blonde turned to the brunette.

"Yes! Teleporting to a random Kingdom Hearts world to mingle with the hot characters is a totally kick-ass plan," she squealed quite loudly. Her friend glared menacingly at her.

"Ame, we are _trying_ to fit in, you retard! You aren't even speaking properly. Do you see any of the other women swearing and squealing?" She finished her sentence with a swift slap to Ame's head. The blonde yelped.

"Sorry, Tsuki. On that note, where exactly are we? This doesn't look like—where were we trying to go again?"

Tsuki sighed. "Judging by the boat and the change of clothes, I can only assume we are… standing by a boat in a backwater world. Let's ask that random NPC where this is, shall we?"

"We shall."

With that, Ame followed Tsuki to approach the NPC, who was conveniently facing away from the pair.

"Excuse me, old woman," Tsuki spoke first

"_Man_. I'm a man," the NPC replied without turning to see who insulted him.

"Sorry, old _man_. Could you be so kind as to tell us where we are?" Tsuki ask as politely as possible to not insult the man further.

"I'm thirty-seven," the NPC man replied, still not facing the girls speaking to him.

"What?" Both women gave confused looks.

"I'm thirty-seven, that's not old," the man replied curtly, finally turning around to face the people who insulted him.

"Yes it is," Ame spoke quietly, almost to herself. Tsuki gave another glare.

"Well, I couldn't just say 'man' now could I?" the brunette replied. The situation was getting awkward, and it was hard to remain polite for much longer.

"You could've said 'Bob'." The man sent both young women a glare, which was easily matched by Tsuki's own defiant stare.

"I didn't realize your name was Bob. I'm sorry I'm not psychic."

"Didn't bother to find out, did you now?" It was here that Ame interjected.

"Tsuki, we should get going, the boat is leaving soon…" Ame looked between Bob and Tsuki, pulling her friend away forcibly. Both girls looked to the large vessel again to see the bright, not easily missed letters forming 'TITANIC'.

"Wait…_Titanic_, isn't that—?" Ame looked at her surroundings quickly.

"The unsinkable boat carrying priceless art pieces and many passengers, that ironically sinks on its first sail killing hundreds? Yup, looks like it."

Tsuki and Ame gave simple looks that clearly stated 'screw _this_.'

"I've got a better idea... Let's go get smashed! There's a conveniently placed pub right there," Ame exclaimed excitedly.

"We're underage, and the only things we have are these boat tickets we will obviously _not_ be using." Tsuki held up said tickets.

"Then this calls for a scene change!" And with that, there was indeed, a scene change. Finally, the plotline moved forward.

* * *

Riku looked through the window of the crowded smoky pub where a serious poker game was taking place. This game had been going on for a while. Curious and nosey eyes surrounded the four men, some quietly betting on who would win. Riku and Axel, both about twenty years old, exchanged a glance as the other two players argued. Riku was a lanky drifter with silver hair a little long for the standards of those times. His old clothes were rumpled from sleeping in them. Thank goodness he doesn't have a longer story that will bore us all to death.

Axel, on the other hand, looked very tidy. His clothes weren't as old, but just as poor as Riku's. His vibrant red hair was flattened down by a hat, making it appear longer than usual.

"You stupid fish head! I can't believe that you bet our tickets!" Setzer growled, looking down at his cards. His eyes looked watery and scared.

"_You _lost our money, dumb ass! I'm trying to get it back. Now take a card and shut up," Luxord demanded, glaring at his friend. In the middle of the table was a pile of money, including two third-class tickets for the Titanic.

Riku tapped his hand on the table. "Hit me again, Setzer. Not literally," he added, when he noticed Setzer balling up his fist.

He quickly snatched the card away and put it into his collection, trying to keep a straight, calm face. Axel, however, was noticeably nervous. He licked his lips, refusing a card as he leaned over to speak to Riku. "I can't believe you bet all of _our _money. What happens if we lose? You ever think of_ that_?" he said, irritated.

"When you don't have anything, you can't lose anything." Riku smirked. Axel sighed, trying to keep his eyes from wandering to the other players. He wasn't the best at poker.

Titanic's whistle blew again, the final warning.

"Okay," Riku said, quickly glancing between the nervous players. "Someone's life is about to change. Axel?"

All eyes turned to Axel as he put his cards down. "Crap. Setzer?"

Setzer threw his cards down, pissed. Riku chuckled, "Nothing. _That'll_ be hard to beat. Luxord?"

Luxord kept his poker face and calmly placed the cards down. Riku moved forward to see. Full house. He frowned and took another good look at his cards. Sweat dropped down Axel's forehead. "Show us the damn cards already!"

Riku's eyes were filled with worry as he turned his head to face his friend. "I'm sorry, Axel," he said quietly, looking back at the cards.

Axel pushed the cards out of the way and started yelling, "What? You bet all our money! What sorry? What are we supposed to—"

"I'm sorry Axel, you won't be back here in a very _long _time," Riku said, keeping his expression the same.

Axel raised his eye brow.

"Because we're going to America! Two pair!" Riku exclaimed, slamming the cards on the table. Axel's eyes grew wide and he jumped up, grabbing Riku's collar in the process.

"Y-You _idiot_! That doesn't win! Are you stupid?" Axel's chest was heaving from the large amount of stress.

"What do you mean? Put me down!"

Luxord and Setzer grinned stupidly and took all the winnings. "See you later losers… NOT." Luxord turned to Setzer. "Come, we must go to the boat, but we will not actually be seen again because this doesn't follow the plot at all and we must suitably disappear!" With that, the two ran out the door into oblivion for all we know, and some sort of fourth wall shattered.

Axel put Riku down and almost cried. There was his money, his chance at the ticket to the fancy boat, and… well, that was pretty much it. Cue dramatic music, with the sound of a door opening. Axel looked up to see two underage girls waltzing into the pub.

Ame turned to Tsuki. "Is that…?"

Tsuki smiled. "It is."

"…"

"…"

"OMGLYKWOOT!!1eleven!"

"...shut up."

"Okay. They look upset. And older. But more upset. Let's glomp them!"

"Or not." Tsuki casually walked up to the table Riku and Axel were currently situated at. "What's wrong with you guys?"

Axel stared at the strange girls in front of him. "Well, my _buddy_ here just lost all our money and our chances at tickets to the Titanic, which I would do ANYTHING to get."

"Anything?" Tsuki's eye's caught a weird glint. This was a fangirl's dream. She quickly grabbed Ame and stepped away, forming a two-girl huddle. Axel and Riku looked at them with bemused looks. The girls abruptly ran back to the table.

"We have two tickets or the Titanic," Ame started, "and we are willing to part with them _if_…"

Tsuki smiled wickedly, the evil glint still in her eyes. "_If _you…"

Riku and Axel began to feel a little scared. This didn't look like it was going to turn out good. The girls held out the two tickets.

"If you give us Axel's hat!" the girls giggled. Axel looked at Riku. Riku looked at the girls, then back at Axel. Two tickets onto the biggest cruise vessel ever built, for a hat? Riku promptly grabbed the hat off Axel's head and grabbed the tickets from the girls, who immediately squealed.

"I'm going!" Axel yelled cheerfully, receiving ignored glares from everyone else.

The bartender interrupted, "No, mates. The _Titanic_ goes to America… in five minutes."

Axel squeaked awkwardly and Riku put the last of the money in his bag. "Oh snap, Riku!" he yelped, checking the time.

"Axel, we must run! The ship leaves really soon!" Riku stated the obvious. The two men jumped up and escaped to the door. Or would have, but two annoying fangirls were promptly attached to their waists at the moment.

"Riku, there's... there's something attached to your waist. Let me get it… One sec..." Axel quickly pried the brunette from Riku's waist. Riku returned the favor and the blonde was dumped too. The men then ran out of the smoke, pushing as many people as they could.

"I thought that you were fast, Axel!" Riku teased, barely missing a few people as he ran. Axel laughed and almost completely crashed into a mail carrier, making some letters fall out of his bag. The man yelled in some weird language (which could've been African Clicking language for all we know). Axel, not knowing or caring what the man said, kept going, trying to keep up.

Even as the Titanic's docks were closing, the ground was still covered with people, mostly waving, and last-minute crew workers. Riku and Axel dodged a horse-drawn carriage and kept their eyes on the markings, looking for the right entrance onto the boat.

Riku spotted it first. "Hey! Whoa! Hold on! We're passengers! Wait!" he yelled to the crew as they were detaching the white platform. He received weird glances from everyone around him as they both ran onto it. The one crew man snarled and glared at them, receiving the finger from both boys as they moved past him.

Axel laughed. Riku turned back around and met another crew at the door. This one was surprisingly a blonde woman. "Have you been through the inspection queue?" she asked, looking down at the tickets that were thrown at her. Riku nodded.

"Yeah, sure we have. And we don't have lice, we're Americans! Both of us." Axel added dumbly. "Not that… we're implying that foreigners have lice." Riku rolled his eyes and snatched the tickets away from the woman, pushing her into the door rudely. Axel followed and they rounded the corner, glancing at the map on the wall. Riku oddly seemed to know where he was going. Axel just shrugged it off and dodged around the halls, making their way up and onto the deck. Surprisingly, they made it up and onto the deck before Titanic set sail.

Riku stepped onto the rail and started waving wildly, yelling to everyone below. Axel stared awkwardly and tugged on his shirt. "You know anybody?"

"Hecks no, but that's not the point! Some of them might be other fangirls! Must please the fans!" He smiled, continuing to wave. Axel grinned and stood up onto the rail.

Grinning, Axel joined in, adding his voice to the swell of sounds, feeling the exhilaration of the moment. "Goodbye, asses! I'll never forget you! Or remember you for that matter! I don't know who any of you are!"

Down on the populated quay, Tsuki and Ame stood uneasily. The brunette turned to the blonde.

"Damn. We just killed the sexy bishies, didn't we?"

"...Woah snap."

* * *

Axel and Riku walked down a narrow corridor that looked like a college dorm, doors lining both sides. People argued over luggage in several languages, wandering in the total confusion in the labyrinth. The two boys eventually found their modest compartment. It was painted enamel white with four bunks and exposed pipes overhead. The other two men were already there, Axel being the first to speak to them. He shook their hands as soon as he entered the door. Riku took a less friendly approach and just stared.

Axel quickly shoved Riku out of the way and jumped onto the top bunk, letting his feet dangle off the edge. The silver haired Riku slightly. "I hope you fall off during the night," he joked. Or was he?

Axel stuck out his tongue and lay back, putting his hands behind his head. "You're just hoping that I fall off onto you, right?"

Riku grunted, "Yeah, right." Secretly, this is what Riku wanted, but none shall ever know. Enter sad, depressing music!

* * *

Sora was currently looking through his new paintings. There was a Monet of water lilies, a Degas of dancers, a Jansson of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and a few other abstract works. Kairi stood out on the covered deck, talking through the doorway to Sora in the sitting room.

"That crap was certainly a waste of money," she said, sipping from her glass.

Sora shook his head and placed a painting on the elegant red couch. "You're wrong, Kairi. They're fascinating. It's like in a dream or something. There's truth but no logic. Of all people I'd think that you'd recognize good art, honey."

Kairi sighed deeply. "How is the Flying Spaghetti Monster truth? You're not a follower of _Pastafarianism_."

"I can't help it," said Sora. "I've been touched by his noodly appendage."

"What is the name of this one?" Marlene asked, taking out another painting.

"Shit on a canvas."

Sora waved Kairi's remark away. "Picasso."

"He'll never amount to a thing, trust me. At least they were cheap."

Sora glared at his finance for a moment before getting back to his paintings. "Excuse me, honey, but whose money _is_ it?" he asked, his back to her.

She growled, "Yours."

He nodded. "Exactly, so go piss on someone _else's_ parade!"

* * *

The Titanic stood silhouetted against the purple post-sunset sky. It was lit up like a floating palace, its thousand portholes reflecting the calm harbor waters. Entering the first class reception room was a number of prominent passengers. A skinny woman in an enormous feathered hat walked up the gangway, carrying a suitcase in each hand. A spindly porter ran to catch up with her to take them

"Well, I wasn't about to wait all day for you. Take them the rest of the way _if_ you think you can do it," she said, handing them to him. The porter followed her into the elevator, passing Kairi and Yuffie as she walked by.

_A woman came aboard named Ollette Brown. Her husband had struck gold someplace out west, and she was what Yuffie called 'new money.'_

"New money? Is that supposed to be an insult? That's a crappy insult! In fact, it's not even a compliment! So… if it's not an insult, and it's not a compliment… I am so confused right now." She was glared at by everyone except for Paine, who swiftly slapped her.

_By the next afternoon, we had made our final stop and we were steaming west, with nothing out ahead of us but ocean... _

On the bridge, Captain Cid Highwind turned from the binnacle to Officer Pence. No one likes Pence.

"Let's take this beauty to sea, Pence," Cid instructed. Pence nodded and went into the control room and moved the engine telegraph lever to '_All Ahead Full._'

In the Engine Room the telegraph clanged and moved to '_All Ahead Full_'.

"All ahead full!" a man yelled, quietly adding: "…whatever that means."

Standing bridge was Squall ' Leon' Leonhart, the shipbuilder, watching carefully as the engineers and greasers scrambled to adjust valves. Towering above them were the twin engines, four stories tall. Their ten-foot-long connecting rods surged up and down with the turning of the massive crankshafts, the engines thundering.

In the Boiling Rooms, the stokers chanted a song as they hurled coal into the roaring furnaces. They were covered with sweat and black coal dust, their muscles working like part of the machinery as they toiled in the hellish glow.

Captain Highwind stepped out of the enclosed bridge and onto the wing. He stood with his hands on the rail. He looked every bit the story book picture of a Captain, which took much practice on his part, posing so perfectly.

"Twenty knots, sir!" Pence said, smiling. Cid nodded and contentedly took the cup of coffee offered to him.

At the bow of the boat were Riku and Axel leaning far over the side, looking down into the ocean. In the glassy waves, two dolphins appeared under the water, running fast in front of the bottom of the ship. Riku watched them and grinned. They breached the surface, jumping clear of the water and then dived back, crisscrossing in front of the bow.

Axel looked forward across the Atlantic, staring into the sun. "I can see the Lady Liberty already! Very small of course," he said.

"What a coincidence! Just like your dick." Riku smirked, shoving Axel in the arm.

Axel pouted slightly. Even if it were true…

* * *

"She is the largest moving object ever made by the hand of man in all history," Seifer Almasy told the group, "and our master shipbuilder, Mr. Leonhart here, designed her from the bottom up."

He indicated the handsome gentlemen to his right, Leon Leonhart.

The group had assembled for lunch. Seifer was seated with Kairi, Sora, Yuffie, Ollette and Leon Leonhart in the Palm Court, a beautiful, sunny spot enclosed by high arched windows. Stereotypical rich person places, to go with the stereotypical but still entertaining plot.

"Well, I may have put her together, but the idea was Mr. Almasy's. He envisioned a steamer so grand in scale, and so luxurious in its appointments, that its supremacy would never be challenged. And here she is," he said, slapping the table, "in solid reality."

"Why are ships always being called 'she'? Is it because men think half the women around here have big sterns and should be weighed in tonnage?" Ollette asked, smiling.

They all laughed in their snooty way. Seifer coughed into his napkin, "Bitch."

"Just another example of the men setting the rules their way, which will inevitably lead to mankinds destruction," said Ollette, twirling the ends of her brown hair with her finger. The waiter arrived to take orders. Kairi lit a cigarette.

"You know I don't like that, dear," Yuffie whispered to her.

"She knows," Sora told her, taking the cigarette from her and stubbed it out

"Hey, who came up with the name Titanic? Was it you, Seifer?" Ollette asked, turning to him.

"Yes, actually. I wanted to convey sheer size. And size means stability, luxury... and safety-"

"Do you know of Dr. Freud? His ideas about the male preoccupation with _size_ might be of particular interest to you, Mr. Almasy," Kairi grunted, referring to the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud, who tainted young and innocent minds with incestuous smut and generally made the world a more interesting, albeit disturbing world.

Sora coughed inconspicuously, "OFFTOPIC."

Kairi tried kicking him under the table, but she hit Leon instead, who yelped from the pain of her heel. He nearly choked on his breadstick. Seifer gave a cocky grin. "Would you like to test that theory yourself?"

Kairi immediately stood up and slapped him.

"My God, Kairi, what's gotten into—" Yuffie said, surprised by her daughter.

Kairi shrugged and walked away. "I do apologize," said Yuffie, trying to make sure that Sora didn't think of her more of a bitch, but Seifer _totally_ asked for it if you ask me.

Sora just smiled and nodded. "It's alright, Yuffie."

* * *

Riku sat on a bench in the sun. Titanic's wake spread out behind him to the horizon. He had his knees pulled up, supporting a leather-bound sketching pad. With crayon he drew rapidly, using sure strokes. An emigrant had his daughter standing on the lower rung of the rail nearby. The delicate blonde leaned back against his beer barrel of a stomach, watching the seagulls.

The sketch captured them perfectly, with a great sense of the humanity of the moment. Riku was good. Really good. Do I need to emphasize that more? Really, truly, deeply good. Axel looked over Riku's shoulder, nodding appreciatively.

Roxas, a scowling young emigrant, watched as a crewmember came by, walking three small dogs around the deck. "That's typical. First class dogs come down here to take a crap. You see that?" he said, pointing to the black French bulldog. "That's among the ugliest creatures on the planet!"

Riku looked up from his sketch.

"Yeah! Like oranges!" Axel added, receiving odd looks. _'Don't listen to them_,' the voice inside Axel's head chimed. '..._they don't_ _know_ _the_ _horrors..._'

"That's so we know where we rank in the scheme of things," Riku said softly, thinking about his drawing.

"Like we could forget," Roxas chuckled, throwing a cigarette off the side.

Riku smiled and opened up his mouth, ready to say something, when someone caught his eye. He glanced across the well deck. On the railing of the higher deck, Sora stood in his very neat yet somehow raggedy suit, perfectly fitted to his boyish body type.

Riku was unable to take his eyes off of him. They were across from each other, about sixty feet apart, with the deck like a valley between them, Sora on his promontory, Riku on his much lower one. He stared down at the water. He was _riveted_ by him. Sora looked like a figure in a romantic novel, sad and isolated.

"Forget it, boy. You'd as like have angels fly out of your ass as get next to the likes of him," Roxas said, noticing Sora on the deck.

Sora turned suddenly and looked right at them. Riku was caught staring, but he didn't look away. Sora did, but then looked back. Their eyes met across the space of the deck, across the gulf between worlds. Riku then saw a blonde man, Cloud, come up behind Sora. The brunette nodded after a short conversation between then and moved away from the railing with the blond following. Riku continued stared after him.

Roxas smiled and stared at Axel, whose eyes were fixed on Roxas' beautiful face. _This_ blonde had captured him almost to the point of drooling. Roxas raised his eye brow. "Why the hell are you looking at _me_ like that?"

"BUTTSECKS!" Axel grinned stupidly, ready to pounce on the blonde, who simply glared at him, turning away to look out to the ocean.

"Jackass."


	3. No Way Out

**Author's Note: **_And any Sora bashing is… well, kinda intentional but not. We don't hate him, he's too cute! We're just taking… well... Okay... ONE of us is taking creative license (coughMEcough Ha! Try and figure who me is! Oh wait… probably obvious -.- NOT) and twisting it so bad so some people may interpret this as Sora bashing. I assure you, It's just our twisted way to say we love him. For example: when SOMEONE threatens to kick me off a cliff, I will not take offense, because I know they love me in their own twisted way. That's right. I went there. Deal. With that said, all of you should jump off a cliff! … or not. Please don't! _

**Disclaimer**: _Tsuki and I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Titanic… But if we did… (Drools) Let's just summarize with a heavily implicative T-shirt saying: "You've been a bad boy... go to my room."_ _We also do not own Scary Movie. Couldn't resist._

* * *

Sora sat quietly at a table, surrounded by people in a heated conversation. Kairi and Yuffie were laughing together, and on the other side of the table, Lady Selphie was talking to Xemnas animatedly. Sora didn't care to hear what they were saying. He instead stared at his shiny plate, barely listening to the inconsequential babble around him. Shiny things are entertaining. Don't try and deny it.

Even though, in all reality, all Sora was doing was staring at the shiny plate, to add character depth, we give his scripted 'thoughts':

_I've been having these weird thoughts lately... like... wait what?_

_Wrong script?  
…uh huh…  
oh…  
Ahem. Let's try this again…_

_I saw my entire life as if I'd previously lived it, filled with endless parades of parties and strip fests, yachts and polo matches, always the same narrow people, the same mindless gossip. I felt like I was standing at the edge of a cliff, with no one to pull me back, no one who cared, or even noticed._

_Oh gods, I was in the mood to be emo._

Sora placed his hands under the table. Between his fingers was a tiny fork from his crab salad. He poked it into the skin of his arm, harder and harder until it drew blood. At the sight of blood, Sora immediately freaked out and fainted, though no one else at the table noticed. He's weak like that.

* * *

Sora ran along the outside walkway. He was disheveled, his flawless spikes flying side to side. He was crying; his cheeks were marked with tears. But he was also angry, also furious! He was shaking with emotions he couldn't comprehend: disgust, self-hatred, and desperation. A strolling couple watched him pass, shocked at the disturbing display in public, stunned at how one handsome young man could look so horrible, so vile, and so not proper at one point in time.

At the much darker, secluded part of the ship, Riku was laying down on one of the benches, gazing at the sea of stars blazing gloriously overhead, thinking artist thoughts and smoking a cigarette.

Hearing something, he turned as Sora ran up the stairs from the deck. They were the only two at this particular place, except for drool worthy Quarter Master Vincent Valentine, who did not look as if he was experimented on and put to sleep in a coffin for three decades, twenty feet above them on the docking bridge. Sora didn't see him in the shadows and continued to run straight, not noticing Riku stand up and decide to follow him.

He kept running across the deserted floors. His breath hitched in an occasional sob, which he suppressed, pressing his palm against his chest. All too soon, he slammed against the base of the stern flagpole and clung there, panting and staring out at the black water. It was monstrous, the ocean.

"God," he whispered, hoping a wave would come and scoop him away, "take me now."

"Actually, my name's Riku, and are you sure you'd do that in public?"

Sora pretended not to hear him, or maybe just didn't hear him, and started to climb over the railing. He had to pull his long coat up, for it made his climbing clumsy. He turned his body and planted his feet on the white bars, his back to the railing, facing out toward the blackness. Sixty feet below him, the massive propellers were churning the Atlantic into white foam, and a ghostly wake trailed off toward the horizon.

He leaned out, his arms straightening, looking down hypnotized into the vortex below him. His coat and hair were lifted by the wind of the ship's movement. The only sound, above the rush of water below, was the soft footsteps of someone behind him.

"Don't do it."

Sora whipped his head around at the sound of the voice. It took a moment for his eyes to focus, and when they did, he saw the silver-haired male standing close. "Stay right there," he instructed. "Don't come any closer! I've got a fork, and I'm not afraid to use it!"

Riku saw the tear tracks on his cheeks in the faint glow from the stern's lights. "Take my hand. I'll pull you back in," Riku said, holding out said hand.

Sora eyed the demanding man. "No! Stay where you are. I mean it. I'll let go and possibly poke you with said fork. Not in that order, of course."

"No, you won't. I'm Riku. Millions of people, primarily women, worship the ground I walk on. Millions of people would kill each other for the opportunity I'm presenting to you right now."

Sora looked puzzled for a minute, deciding to ignore the crazy talk. "What do you mean 'no, I won't'? Don't think you can tell me what I will and will not do. You don't know me!"

"I don't have to know you to get in your pants, do I? 'Cause I'm not good with serious relationships."

Sora's eyes widened, horrified. "What?!"

Riku shook his head and shrugged. "Nevermind. You would have jumped already if you were going to. Now come on, take my hand."

Sora was confused now. He couldn't see the man very well through the tears, so he wiped them with one hand, almost losing his balance. "You're distracting me," he sobbed. "Go away!"

"I can't," Riku folded his arms across his chest. "I'm involved now, with nothing better to do. If you let go, I'm going to jump in after you."

"Don't be absurd. You'll be killed," Sora said matter-of-factly.

Riku took off his jacket, revealing an even tighter shirt underneath. Sora's eyes widened, not able to help his eyes wander. Riku didn't notice. Rather, didn't _want_ to notice. "I'm a good swimmer," he said, starting unlacing his left shoe.

"The fall alone would kill you," Sora whispered, imagining himself falling into the monstrous ocean below.

Riku bit his lip. "It would be painful, not saying it wouldn't. But I'm more worried about that water being so cold."

Sora looked down at the water again. The reality factor of what he was doing was sinking in: _bad idea_. He turned back to Riku. "How cold?" he gulped, getting colder.

"It's freezing, maybe a couple of degrees over. Why? Getting scared there, pretty boy?" he said, taking the shoe off. He immediately started unlacing his right shoe. "Ever been to Destiny Islands?"

"No." Sora was perplexed at the randomosity of that question.

"Well they have some of the coldest winters around, and I grew up there, near The Random Island. Once when I was a kid, my father and I were ice-fishing out on Lake Ocean." Riku 

quickly glanced at Sora above him, a concerned look upon his face. "If you don't know, ice-fishing's where you chop a hole in the—"

"I know what _ice fishing_ is! And what the heck? I know for a fact that Destiny Islands has a tropical climate!" Sora snapped, unable to ignore the 'crazy talk' any further.

"Sorry, you just seem like kind of an indoor guy. Back to the story: I went through some thin ice and trust me, water that cold—" Riku pointed past the railing, "—like that right down there, it hits you like a thousand knives all over your body. You can't breathe, you can't think; at least not about anything but the pain down there."

Sora's eyes dropped, suddenly regretful.

"And that's why I'm not looking forward to jumping in after you," Riku said, his voice unexpectedly blissful. "But like I said before, I don't see any other option. I'm hoping you'll come back over the rail and get me off the hook here."

Nothing like guilt to stop attempted suicide.

The brunette raised his eyes again to stare at him, bewildered. "You're absolutely psychotic, and stop telling me you went ice fishing! You can't ice fish in the tropics!"

"Everyone says I'm crazy, but I'm not the one hanging off the back of a ship here, am I?" Riku said smugly.

Sora's eye twitched. "Hey! Stop avoiding it, you lied to me! Are you ignoring me?"

Riku slid one step closer, like moving up on a spooked horse. "Come on. You don't want to do this. Give me your hand."

Sora stared at this madman for a long time. He looked at Riku's eyes, and they somehow suddenly seemed to fill his universe with reason. Eyes can do that to you sometimes.

"Alright," he said calmly. He unfastened one hand from the rail and reached it around toward the other male.

Riku took it firmly, like an introductory handshake. "I'm Riku Dawson."

Sora said, his voice quivering, "A pleasure, Mr. Dawson." He began to turn. Now that he had decided to live, the height was terrifying. That's what that dumbass gets; he was overcome by dizziness as he shifted his footing, turning to face the ship. Riku watched closely, his feet planted firmly on the floor, ready for any problems that might occur. As the boy started to climb back over, his coat ended up under his foot, and it slipped off the edge of the deck.

He plunged, letting out a piercing shriek. Riku, gripping his hand, jerked toward the rail, and Sora barely grabbed a lower rail with his free hand. Quarter Master Drool Worthy Valentine, up 

on the bridge, heard the scream and headed for the ladder. Of course, he was the only one who noticed. On a boat with hundreds of people, only _one_ person noticed the shrill scream.

"Help! _HELP_!" Sora begged, closing his eyes. He listened to Riku's calming voice through his screams, soft and pleasant.

"I've got you. I won't let go."

He opened his eyes, staring right into a pair of aquamarine ones. Riku held Sora's hand with all his strength, bracing himself on the railing with his other hand. Sora tried to get some kind of foothold on the back of the ship, but the hull was too smooth. Riku tried to lift his bodily over the railing, but he slipped back half-way up, dropping and screaming once again. This time, a window broke somewhere. Until this moment, many people didn't realize a man could scream so piercingly.

Riku, awkwardly clutching Sora by whatever he could get a grip on, got him over the railing. They fell together onto the deck in a tangled heap, spinning in such a way that Riku wound up slightly on top of him. Convenient for scandalous thoughts, courtesy of Riku himself.

Vincent slid down the ladder from the docking bridge drill and strolled across the deck flawlessly. No need to rush.

"What's this?" he said, seeing the two boys on top of each other on the ground.

Bow chicka wow wow.

Vincent walked up and pulled Riku off, revealing Sora disheveled and sobbing on the deck, his shirt and coat torn. Vincent looked at Riku, the shaggy steerage man with his jacket off, and then the first class male, and he started drawing conclusions. Two seamen chugged across the deck to join them.

"Stand back and don't move an inch," Vincent said coolly in his raspy voice, pointing at Riku. He turned to the seamen. "Fetch the Master at Arms."

A few minutes later, Riku was being detained by the burly 'Master at Arms', the closest thing to a cop on board. He was being handcuffed with Kairi and Yuffie standing in front of him, both of them still pretty much in their evening gowns, hidden by a blanket. The other man was Colonel Merlin, a mustachioed old man who still had his brandy cocktail. He offered it to Sora, who was hunched over crying on a bench nearby, but he waved it away.

"What made you think you could put your hands on him?" Kairi yelled, angered by Riku's rolling eyes. "Look at me! What did you think you were doing?"

"Hey! I'm not a homo," Riku spat.

Vincent Valentine's head came between them. "Is that so?"

"Kairi, please stop. It was an accident," Sora said softly behind them, hesitant.

"An accident?" Yuffie squeaked, now questioning Sora's sexuality. He couldn't marry Kairi if he was openly _gay_, now could he?

"It was stupid, really," Sora said, his eyes drifting from one person to another as he thought up a story. "I was leaning over and... I slipped."

Riku tilted to the side to stare at the young brunette behind Kairi, stunned.

"I was leaning way over to see the propellers, and I slipped. I would have gone overboard, but Riku here saved me, and he almost went over himself."

"You wanted to see the propellers?" Kairi asked, raising her brow.

"Gays and machinery do not mix. It's a stereotypically proven fact," Vincent said, shaking his head.

"My goodness, darling Sora here is not a homosexual. He's engaged to my daughter," Yuffie said firmly, appalled.

"Is that what happened?" the unknown and unimportant Master at Arms questioned the silver-haired male.

"Yep. That was pretty much it," Riku said, reading off of those deep blue eyes as if they were Teleprompters, begging him not to say anything about what really had happened. He looked at Sora a moment longer. They had a secret together.

"Well! The boy's a hero then. Good for you son, well done!" Merlin said, tipsy. He turned to Kairi. "So it's all's well, and back to my brandy with the men, eh?"

Riku was un-cuffed, watching as Yuffie got Sora to his feet and moving. "Let's get you in. You're freezing," Yuffie whispered to him, rubbing his arms, and leaving without a second thought for Riku.

"Perhaps a little something for the boy? Someone has to pay for the obvious hair dye," Vincent said softly, just low enough for Yuffie and Kairi to hear. Riku huffed indignantly.

"Oh, right. Kairi, a twenty should do it." Yuffie said, continuing to lead Sora.

"Is that the going rate for saving me?" Sora said, turning back around. Yuffie held tightly onto his arm.

"Mmm... what to do?" Kairi thought aloud. A rusty light bulb appeared and she turned back to Riku. He appraised him condescendingly—a steerage ruffian, unwashed and ill-mannered. "I know, perhaps you could join us for dinner tomorrow, to regale our group with your heroic tale?"

Riku looked straight at Sora. "Sure. Count me in."

"Good. Settled then," Merlin oddly laughed, tripping a little bit. Riku watched quietly as everyone went back to their normal lives, except for Kairi, who continued to stare accusingly at him.

"You'll want to tie those," she said, glancing down at Riku's boots. "Interesting that Sora 'slipped' suddenly, and you still had time to take of your jacket and shoes." Her expression was bland, but her eyes were cold. She then turned away to join her group.

Riku smiled slightly.

* * *

As Kairi undressed for bed, she noticed Sora standing in her doorway in the reflection of the cracked mirror of her vanity. She had sat down in front of it, staring at her flawless image. She raised her hand near her mouth, her fingers gracefully on her lips. Why her mirror was cracked we will never know. She's supposed to be a rich—no, _cultured_ person.

"Kairi, I wanted to say I'm sorry for what I did tonight," Sora began, the words being forced from his throat. He couldn't stop fidgeting, squirming under his fiancé's deadly glare in the mirror. He managed to drop his gaze and stare at the back of her head instead, avoiding any reason to look back into the mirror.

Kairi smirked cruelly beneath her fingers. From behind his back, Sora handed her a large black velvet jewel case. She took it, numbly, as if it were a piece of stained cardboard.

"I intended to save this, but I thought tonight, perhaps a reminder of my..." He didn't want to say it, but did anyway, "my…feelings for you."

Sora coughed slightly.

Kairi slowly opened the box. Inside was the necklace in all its glory. It was huge, a malevolent blue stone glittering with an infinity of scalpel-like inner reflections.

"Sora, it's a dia—"

"Diamond?" Sora interrupted. "Yes it is. Very shiny. Very distracting from that flat chest of yours." He took the necklace from the case and placed it around her throat. He turned her to the mirror, standing behind her. "It's called the Heart of the Ocean."

He gazed at the image of the two of them in the mirror, thinking to himself. Maybe he should start wearing heels. Kairi seemed to be getting taller…

His fingers lightly caressed her shoulder as he contemplated. His smile showed love and care, but deep down inside he could feel his finger tips burning more with each second he had to touch her. Kairi's face was more readable. She didn't smile. Her expression was very irritated.

_Of course my gift was to reflect light onto her, to illuminate the greatness that was Kairi. It was a cold stone, a heart of ice._

* * *

"So let me get this straight. You were going to kill yourself by jumping off the Titanic?" Rikku cried, laughing uncontrollably. "That's great, the irony!"

"Rikku," Paine warned, sending the ten-billionth glare to Rikku's direction. However, Sora began to laugh along with the foolish girl.

"All you had to do was wait two days!" Rikku gasped through her laughs. Yuna, standing out of Sora's sightline, checked her watch. Two minutes had passed. This process was taking way too long.

"Sora, tell us more about the diamond. What did Kairi or you do with it after that?"

"I'm afraid I'm feeling a little tired, lady," Sora yawned, stretching his arms.

Tidus picked up the cue and started to wheel him out.

"Wait! Can you give us something go on, here? Like, who had access to the safe? What about this hot Cloud guy? Did he have the combination?" Yuna asked, startled by this sudden stop. Sora, however, was already sound asleep in the chair.

* * *

Paine started the tape recorder. Sora gazed at the screen showing the live feed from the wreck underwater. The robot moved along the starboard side of the hull, heading toward the rear. The rectangular windows of a deck marched past on the right.

"The next day, Saturday, I remember thinking how the sunlight felt," Sora said softly.

The rusty side slowly turned into the gleaming new Titanic of 1912, passing the end of the enclosed walkway just as Sora walked into the sunlight. He was dressed and walking with sure intention.

_As if I hadn't felt the sun in years._

Sora unlatched the gate to enter the third class deck. The steerage men stopped what they were doing and stared at him. Sora's eyes, however, stayed staring straight ahead toward the third class General Room, ignoring the whistling men.

The General Room was the social center of steerage life. It was dilapidated by comparison to the magnificence of first class, but was a loud, energetic place. There were mothers with babies, kids running between the benches yelling in several languages and being scolded in several more. There were old women yelling, men playing chess, girls doing needlepoint and reading novels. There was even an upright piano, and Roxas stood around it while Axel struggled to get a conversation going beside him.

Three boys, shrieking and shouting, scrambled around the floor, chasing a rat under the benches. They tried to hit it with a shoe several times, causing general havoc, but not many people were concerned about it. Riku sat on a bench with five-year-old Naminé, drawing funny faces together in his sketchbook.

"So how are things going?" Axel asked softly, almost as a whisper. Roxas shook his head.

"No, Axel. I'm not going to bed with you," he said, rolling his eyes.

Axel slumped down onto a bench, looking pitiful. At least, he tried to look pitiful. He stuck out his lower lip slightly and kept his eyes down, hoping that Roxas would look at him. However, Roxas' eye was caught by something else.

Axel looked in that direction, did a double-take, and Riku, curious, followed their gaze to see Sora coming toward them awkwardly. The activity in the room stopped as, one-by-one, everyone noticed this stranger. Sora felt suddenly self-conscious as the steerage passengers stared openly at this prince, some with resentment, and others with awe. He spotted Riku and gave him little smile. Riku rose to greet him, returning the smile while thoughts of bondage and whipped cream danced in his perverted mind.

"Hello, Riku," Sora said kindly, delicately holding out his hand.

Axel and Roxas were floored.

"Hello again," Riku greeted, a smug smile on his face as they shook hands. Sora looked up to match the male's gaze. He really was short.

"Could I speak to you in private?"

"Yes, of course. After you." He motioned Sora ahead and followed. Riku looked over his shoulder, one eyebrow raised, as he walked out with him, leaving a stunned silence. Axel grinned evilly as the noise went up again.

* * *

Riku and Sora walked side by side. They passed people reading and talking in white deck chairs, some of whom stared curiously at the mismatched couple. Riku felt out of place in his rough clothes, but they were both awkward, for different reasons.

"You got a name?" Riku asked, breaking the silence.

"Sora," he responded immediately, looking at the male in the corner of his eye.

"That's quite a name. I may have to get you to write that down."

There was an awkward pause.

"It's …four letters long. How is that hard to remember?" Sora raised his brow. "Anyway, Mr. Dawson, I—"

"Riku," he corrected, trying to sound as nice as he could.

"_Riku_, I feel like such an idiot. It took me all morning to get up the nerve to face you."

Riku frowned a bit. "Well, here you are."

"Here I am," Sora whispered, not knowing what to say. "I... I want to thank you for what you did. Not just for... for pulling me back, but for your dis...cre..tio...n...that big word."

"You're welcome, Sora."

Sora felt the calmness in his voice. For a moment he felt at ease as Riku spoke his name, but once that moment was up, he came back to reality. He wasn't attracted to Riku. He was engaged. He was engaged to Kairi.

"I hardly—" Sora looked up at Riku.

"—know you." Riku looked down at Sora.

"We have so little—"

"—in common."

"We're already finishing each other's—" Sora looked hopeful for a second.

"—dinner." Riku grinned, proud.

"Err… sentences." Sora's eyes darted toward the ground, his eagerness crushed.

"Oh, right." Riku's grin faltered for a split second.

Sora hurried to change the subject. "Look, I know what you must be thinking. 'Poor rich guy. What does he know about despair?'"

"Wow, you read my mind! Congrats, kid!" Riku laughed, earning a soft stare from Sora. "Hee hee, just kidding. That's not what I was thinking. What I was thinking was: what could have happened to hurt him so much he thought he had no way out?"

Sora's voice raised. "I don't. It wasn't just one thing, it was everything. It was them, it was their whole world, and I was trapped in it, like an insect in web, or a Heartless in my Keyblade," he said, in a rush, "I just had to get away, just run and run and run, and then I was at the back rail and there was no more ship. Even the Titanic wasn't big enough. Not enough to get away from them. And before I'd really thought about it, I was over the rail, so furious. 'I'll show them. They'll be sorry!'"

Riku nodded, wondering what the hell this 'Keyblade' was. "Uh huh. They'll be sorry. Of course, you'd be dead."

Sora lowered his head. "I am such a fool."

"That penguin last night, is he one of them?"

Sora was confused. "Penguin?"

"That dude with the auburn hair… and then that lady…"

"Do you mean Kairi? She's a woman."

"Oh. Is she your girlfriend?" Riku asked, his voice quite serious now.

"No way!"

Riku's eyes brightened.

"She's my fiancé."

These words almost killed him. He gasped, leaning over suddenly, and Sora, surprised, helped him stand upright. A passing steward scowled at the tousled Riku, who was clearly not a first class passenger, but Sora just glared at him away.

"So you feel like you're stuck on a train you can't get off because you're marrying this fella?"

"Not fella. Girl. I'm engaged to a girl." Sora corrected, "But yes. On that note, why does everyone assume I'm gay?"

"I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I may be maimed. To solve your problem: don't marry him."

"_Her_. And if only it were that simple."

"It is that simple," Riku said, staring at Sora smugly.

"Riku, please don't judge me until you've seen my world," Sora pleaded.

"Well, I guess I will tonight, won't I? Do you love her?" Riku grinned.

Sora's mouth uncontrollably dropped open. "What?"

"Do you love her? Your fiancé?"

"Huh?"

"Answer the question! Do you love her or not?"

Sora failed to think of an answer, appalled by Riku's bold question. "This is not a suitable conversation. I don't know you, and you don't know me, and we're not having this conversation at all."

"Sora, do you love the girl or not?" Riku crossed his arms, impudent. "It's a simple question."

Looking for another topic, any other topic, Sora indicated his sketchbook. "What's this?"

Riku shrugged. "Just some sketches."

"May I?" he asked, also he had already grabbed the book. Sora sat on a deck chair and opened it.

Each one of Riku's sketches was an expressive little bit of humanity: an old woman's hands, a sleeping man, a father and daughter at the rail. The faces were luminous and alive. His book was a celebration of the human spirit.

"Riku, these are quite good! Really, they are. I've never seen such defined stick figures," Sora praised happily, running his fingers across the pages.

"Well, they didn't think too much of them in Paris," Riku said glumly.

"Well, well, well..." Sora said, turning the page.

He had come upon a series of nudes and he became transfixed by the languid beauty he created. His nudes were soulful, real, with expressive hands and eyes. They felt more like portraits than studies of the human form, almost uncomfortably intimate. Sora blushed, raising the book as some strollers went by.

"And these were drawn from life?" Sora asked, trying to be very adult.

"Yup. That's one of the great things about Paris. Lots of people willing take their clothes off."

He studied one drawing in particular. The male posed half in sunlight, half in shadow, his hands placed on his chin, one furled and one open like a flower, languid and graceful.

"You liked this man. You used him several times," Sora said, his voice gentle.

"He had beautiful..." Riku's eyes darted every which way, trying think of something, "...hands... Yes! Hands!"

Sora smiled. "I think you must have had a love affair with him."

Riku laughed, "No, no! Just with his... uhh... hands."

Sora kept his kind smile and looked up at Riku, "You have a gift, Riku. You do. You see people. Did I ever tell you I saw dead people? In my past life… It was weird, I was this kid, and there was this dead guy—"

"Sora," Riku interrupted before the rambling continued. "I see you," he said softly, making himself Sora's level. There it was. That piercing gaze again.

"And…?" Sora asked, lifting his chin sarcastically.

Riku's gaze held firm. "You wouldn't have jumped."

* * *


	4. The First Class

**Author's Note:**_ Weird ass pairings in this one, but we can't help it. It just turned out that way._

**Disclaimer: **We don't own Kingdom Hearts or Titanic… blah blah blah!

* * *

Yuffie was having tea with the Countess Aerith Gainsborough, a frail English woman with patrician features. She saw someone coming across the room and lowered her voice.

"Oh no, that vulgar Olette woman is coming this way. Get up, quickly before she sits with us."

Olette walked up, greeting them cheerfully as they were rising. "Hello girls, I was hoping I'd catch you at tea."

Yuffie smiled. "We're _awfully sorry_ you missed it. Aerith and I are just off to take the air on the deck."

"That sounds great. Let's go. I need to catch up on the gossip."

Yuffie gritted her teeth as the three of them headed for the Grand Staircase. As they crossed the room, Seifer Almasy and Cid Highwind were at another table.

"So you've not lit the last four boilers then?" Seifer questioned, looking down at some random paper that may or may not have actually had any writing on it.

"No, but we're making excellent time," Cid replied calmly, keeping that cheerful grin on his face.

Seifer became oddly impatient. "The press knows the size of Titanic, but let them marvel at her speed, too. We must give them something new to print. And the maiden voyage of Titanic _must make headlines_!"

"I prefer not to push the engines until they've been properly run in"

Seifer pursed his lips. "Of course, I leave it to your good offices to decide what's best, but what a glorious end to your last crossing if we get into New York Tuesday night and surprise them all." Seifer said, slapping his hand on the table. "Retire with a bang."

Cid was beat. He nodded, stiffly.

"You know, they say retirement is a _killer_ for some people, with nothing to look forward to. Some _old_ people just have nothing to do with their worthless lives."

Cid stared at Seifer, eyes widened, mouth agape. Seifer didn't seem to take the hint, and continued his preaching on retirement. Cid decided it was best to stop listening. It's not like he was going to willingly kill himself, this speech was not going to affect any important decisions anytime soon.

* * *

Riku and Sora were innocently leaning on the ship's rail, shoulder to shoulder. Their faces were painted with the orange light of dusk and Titanic's lights behind them. To them, it was perfect; it was magical. Well, for Riku anyway. But then again, Riku's opinion on the situation could have been influenced by drugs.

"So then what, Mr. Wandering Riku?" Sora asked, waking Riku from his current hallucination involving him and seven dwarves. Sora looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to finish the story.

"Well, then logging got to be too much like work, so I went down to Los Angeles to the pier in Santa Monica. That's a nice place, they even have a rollercoaster. I sold myself as a prosti—I mean, I sketched portraits there for ten cents apiece."

"A whole ten cents?" Sora gasped sarcastically. For him, ten cents wasn't a lot of money at all. In fact, I'm pretty sure it isn't a lot of money for really anyone. Even Kairi spent more for one spa treatment she so desperately needed.

Of course, Riku didn't get the joke. "Yeah, it was great money. I could make a dollar a day sometimes, but only in summer. When it got cold, I decided to go to Paris and see what the real artists were doing."

Sora looked at the dusk sky, sighing. "Why can't I be like you, Riku? Just head out for the horizon whenever I feel like it," he said, turning to Riku. "Say we'll go there sometime to that pier, even if we only ever just talk about it."

"Alright, we're going. We'll drink cheap beer and go on the rollercoaster until we throw up and we'll ride horses on the beach, right in the surf." Riku quieted down significantly. "Then I'll bang you senseless..."

Sora smiled. He hadn't been this happy in a long time, and he was oblivious to Riku's last comment. "I think I would. And teach me to spit, too. Why must first class men not be able to spit? It's unfair."

"That was random, but it's easy. Watch closely," Riku said, turning to the rail. He spit quickly and it arced out over the water. "Your turn."

Sora screwed up his mouth and spit. A pathetic little bit of foamy spittle which mostly ran down his chin before falling off into the water came out. Although this was a generally grotesque and unclean action, it became quite common in old age.

"Nope, that was pitiful. Here, like this... you hawk it down. Then roll it on your tongue, up to the front, like this, then a big breath and—" he instructed, spitting yet again. "You see the range on that thing?"

Sora went through the steps. He hawked it down, etc. Riku coached him through it while doing the steps himself. Sora let his fly. So did Riku. Two comets of gob flew out over the water.

"That was great!" Riku exclaimed, truly happy that Sora had somewhat mastered the spitting technique. The brunette turned to him, his face alight, but he then suddenly blanched. Riku noticed his odd expression and turned.

Yuffie, Aerith, Cloud, Kairi, _and_ Olette had been watching. Sora became instantly composed. "Kairi, Yuffie, may I introduce you to Riku?"

"Charmed, I'm sure," Kairi attempted to growl. What she managed at best was a spitting snarl and a constipated face fit for a bulldog. Olette grinned as Sora proceeded with the introductions, noticing the spit running down Riku's chin.

_The others were gracious and curious about the man who'd saved my life, but Kairi looked at him like an insect, a dangerous, sexy insect which must be squashed quickly._

"Well, Riku, it sounds like you're a good man to have around in a sticky spot—" They all jumped as a bugler sounded the meal call right behind them, interrupting Olette. She placed her hands on her waist, pretending to be upset. "Why do they insist on always announcing dinner like a damn cavalry charge?" she joked.

"Shall we go dress, Cloud?" Sora asked, grabbing Cloud's jacket. He looked over his shoulder, quickly walking away. "See you at dinner, Riku." Kairi and Yuffie stood there for a few more moments, giving Riku a stern, annoyed look. Aerith exited with them, leaving Riku and Olette alone on deck.

"Do you have the slightest comprehension of what you're doing?" she asked, raising her brow.

Riku shrugged and laughed, "Not really."

"Well, you're about to go into the snake pit," she said, looking him over. "What are you planning to wear?"

Riku looked down at his clothes and back up at her. He hadn't thought about that. She smirked. "I figured. Come on," she said, slipping her arm into Riku's, leading him forward.

* * *

Men's suits and jackets and other formal wear were strewn all over the room. Riku was dressed, except for his jacket, and Olette was tying his bow tie. "Don't feel bad about it. Most of the other men I know _still_ can't tie one of these damn things. There you go."

She picked up a jacket from the bed and handed it to him. He walked into the bathroom and put it on, looking at himself in the mirror. Olette waited behind, bending over to pick up trousers 

from the floor, laughing. "I have to buy everything in three sizes, because I never know how much my husband has been eating while I'm away."

She turned just as Riku emerged from the bathroom.

"My, my, my, you shine up like a new penny."

"Is it a lucky penny?"

"Sure, let's go with that," Olette said, leading him out the door.

* * *

Titanic sat against purple sky, shot with orange. Strains of classical music drifted along the ship as Riku walked along the deck. By Edwardian standards he looked like a badass. Well, a good bad ass. A hot, sexy, good badass, dashing in his borrowed white-tie outfit. A steward bowed and opened the door to the First Class Entrance. "Good evening, sir."

Riku played the role smoothly; he nodded with just the right degree of disdain. He stepped through the door and his breath was taken away by the splendor spread out before him. Overhead was the enormous glass dome, with a crystal chandelier at its center. Sweeping down six stories was the grand staircase, the epitome of the luxurious naval architecture of the time. He observed the women in their floor length dresses, elaborate hairstyles and abundant jewelry, the gentlemen in evening dress, standing with one hand at the small of the back, talking quietly.

men nodded a perfunctory greeting as he moved elegantly across the floor. He nodded back, keeping it simple. He felt like a spy. A good spy. A hot, sexy...

...well, you get the point.

Cloud glided down the stairs with Kairi on his arm, covered in jewelry. They both walked past Riku, neither one recognizing him. Cloud nodded at him, one gentleman to another. Riku barely had time to be amused, because just behind them on the stairs was Sora, a vision in his somehow unique black suit. The silver-haired man was hypnotized by his beauty; even in formal male dress, Sora had the physique of a young girl.

Sora chuckled as Riku imitated the gentleman's stance, hand behind his back. Sora extended his hand, expecting a friendly hand shake. Riku took it and instead kissed the back of his fingers. The brunette blushed, beaming noticeably. "Riku, you're supposed to do that to women."

"Your point?"

Sora opened his mouth to reply, but he noticed Kairi and Cloud around the bottom of the staircase. He nodded and grabbed Riku's hand, leading him down to greet them. "Cloud, Kairi, surely you remember Mr. Riku. We saw him just a few minutes ago. You can't be that thick. "

Cloud's eyes widened considerably, surprised. "Riku, I didn't recognize you," he said, studying Riku's dazzling looks. "Amazing! You could almost pass for a gentleman."

... Oooh, burn.

Kairi, on the other hand, refused to look at them. "I highly doubt it. But most first class people are idiots, so I'm sure you'll fit in well. Come on, Cloud," she said, pulling the blonde away.

* * *

The party descended to dinner in the reception room on the deck. Olette grinned when she saw Riku. As they were going into the dining saloon she walked next to him, speaking low. "There's nothing to it, is there, Riku?"

"Yeah, you just dress like a millionaire and keep your nose up."

"Yes. Remember, they _really_ love money, so just act like you've got a lot of it and you'll fit in fine."

As they entered the swirling throng, Sora leaned close to him, pointing out several notables.

"There's the Aerith Gainsborough. And that's Wakka, the richest man on the ship, ironically, and that's his wife, Lulu." He nodded toward another couple. "And over there, that's Xemnas and Selphie. She designs naughty lingerie, among her many talents. Very popular with the royals."

Cloud was engrossed in a conversation with Xemnas and Colonel Merlin, while the usual group of women discussed fashion. Sora led his partner smoothly to show him another couple dressed impeccably. "And that's Hayner and his mistress, Fuu."

"You mean someone has to actually _touch_ him?" Riku grimaced.

"Yup. That woman _must_ be desperate for money."

Kairi, meanwhile, was accepting the praise of her female counterparts, who were looking at Sora like a prize show horse.

"Kairi, he's splendid," Selphie complimented.

"Thank you," Kairi replied, still refusing to look at her fiancé.

"Kairi's a lucky girl. I know her well, and it can_ only_ be luck," Merlin told the men, still a teeny bit hung over like always.

Yuffie stepped over, hearing the last few words. She took Cloud's arm. "How can you say that, Merlin? My daughter is a great catch." The entourage strolled toward the dining saloon, where they ran into Wakka and Lulu going through the ornate double doors.

"Wakka, Lulu, I'd like you to meet Riku," said Sora, pushing Riku forward.

Wakka turned and smiled, shaking Riku's hand roughly. "Nice to meet you, Riku."

* * *

The room was like a ballroom at a palace, alive and lit by an assemblage of chandeliers, full of elegantly dressed people and beautiful music from a small orchestra. As Sora and Riku entered and moved across the room to their table, Kairi and Yuffie came up casually beside them.

_Riku must have been nervous, but he never faltered. They assumed he was one of them, a young captain of industry, perhaps. New money, obviously, but still a member of their First Class club. Kairi, of course, could always be counted upon..._

"Tell us of the accommodations in the Third Class, Riku. I hear they're quite good on this ship," Kairi said, finally bothering to look at them. Riku was seated opposite Sora, flanked by Kairi and Leonhart. Also at the table was everyone else Riku had the pleasure of meeting earlier.

"The best I've seen. There are hardly any rats," he replied, trying desperately to imitate the laughs that he received. He just couldn't do it. Sora motioned surreptitiously for Riku to take his napkin off his plate.

"Riku is joining us from third class. He was apparently of some assistance to my fiancé last night," said Kairi.

Whispers were immediately exchanged. Riku became the subject of furtive glances. They were all suddenly feeling terribly liberal and dangerous. Hayner whispered to Fuu, "What is Sora hoping to prove, bringing this... bohemian... up here?"

Sora seemed to hear this and shot a dirty look at Hayner. He quickly stopped his whispering.

"How do you take your caviar, sir?" the waiter asked Riku. He was completely clueless as to what the server meant.

Leon answered for him. "Just a soupcon of lemon," he said, smiling. "It improves the flavor with champagne."

"No caviar for me, thanks." Riku said, turning to Leon. "Never did like it much."

He looked at Sora, straight-faced. The brunette smiled encouragingly.

"And where exactly do you live, Riku?" Kairi continued.

"Well, right now my address is the _Titanic_. After that, I'm on God's good humor."

Salad was served. As Riku reached for the fish fork, Sora gave him a look and picked up the salad fork, prompting Riku with his eyes. He changed forks as showed.

"You find that sort of rootless existence appealing, do you?" Kairi narrowed her eyes.

_Someone slap her, _thought Riku.

"It's a big world, and I want to see it all before I go. You can't wait around, because you never know what hand you're going to get dealt next. My parents died in a fire when I was fifteen, and I've been on the road ever since. Something like that teaches you to take life as it comes at you. To make each day count," Riku replied nonchalantly.

Olette raised her glass in a salute. "Well said, Riku."

Merlin lifted his glass as well. "Here, here."

Sora raised his cup, too, looking at Riku approvingly. "To making it count."

Kairi, annoyed that Riku had scored a point, pressed him further after the short-lived toast ended. "How is it you have the means to travel, Riku?"

"I work my way from place to place. I got my Titanic ticket… well, that's a long and pointless story. Let's just say I won my ticket on Titanic here in a lucky hand in poker." He glanced at Sora, for feeling sorry about Axel's lost hat. "A_ very_ lucky hand."

"All life is a game of luck," Merlin said loudly.

"A real man makes his own luck," Hayner added, sipping his wine.

Sora noticed that Leon Leonhart, sitting next to him, was writing in his notebook, completely ignoring the conversation. "Mr. Leonhart, what _are_ you doing? I see you everywhere writing in this little book," Sora said playfully, grabbing it and reading, "'Increase number of screws in hat hooks from 2 to 3.' You build the biggest ship in the world and _this_ preoccupies you?"

Leon smiled sheepishly, which was a very sexy look.

"He knows every bolt in her, don't you Leon?" Seifer grinned.

"All three million of them," Leon nodded.

"His blood and soul are in this ship. She may be mine on paper, but in the eyes of God, she belongs to Leon Leonhart."

"Your ship is a wonder, Mr. Leonhart. Truly," Sora complimented, earning a very kind smile from Leon.

"Thank you, Sora."

Cloud then entered the room, making his way to their table. A new conversation had already begun, and his book was taken from him, so Leon had nothing else to do but just sit there and look pretty. He kept his gaze downward until the blonde caught his eye, and he looked to the side, watching as the gorgeous male came closer.

Cloud didn't notice the brunette at first. He was looking at something across the room as he came toward the table, and then he stared at Kairi for a moment. He didn't see him until Leon slyly reached over for a bread roll and intentionally knocked his cup over, spilling the water all over the bottom of Cloud beside the table. The blonde gasped and jumped back, the cold liquid seeping through his pants and onto his legs. Leon stood up and started apologizing. "I'm so sorry! Really! I'm so clumsy, mister—"

"—Cloud. Call me Cloud."

Leon smiled weakly and was about to start soaking up the water with a napkin, but he smartly back off, realizing where exactly the water had fallen onto him. Such things weren't appropriate for public, so he just gave Cloud the napkin instead with a glint in his eyes.

Cloud nodded. "Thank you. Sora, could I have a word?"

Sora glanced at Riku and nodded, standing up. He led Cloud over to the side of the room. Dessert had been served and a waiter arrived with cigars in a humidor on a wheeled cart. The men started clipping ends and lighting them.

Merlin rose. "Well, join me for a brandy, gentlemen?"

Olette smirked and leaned against Riku's shoulder. "Now they retreat into a cloud of smoke and congratulate each other on being masters of the universe."

Riku smiled and sat up straight.

"Joining us, Riku? You don't want to stay out here with the women, do you?" Merlin laughed, earning a death glare from Olette. Actually he _did_, but...

"No, thanks. I'm heading back."

"That's probably best. It'll be all business and politics, that sort of thing. Wouldn't interest you," Kairi added. All of the men quickly exited, leaving the women sitting at the table, already starting to yap. Sora came back without Cloud, as he decided to follow Leon into the hall.

"Riku, must you go?" the brunette asked him, pleading with his eyes.

"Time for my coach to turn back into a pumpkin," he replied sadly, grabbing Sora's hand. He slipped a tiny folded paper into the brunette's palm.

Kairi, scowling, watched him walk away across the enormous room. Sora secretly opened the note below table level. It read, in Riku's first-grade lettering: _Make it count. Meet me at the clock. Boo-ya._

* * *

Sora crossed the foyer, finding Riku on the landing above, the crystal dome overhead. Riku had his back to him, studying the ornate clock with its carved figures of angels as it softly striked the hour. The brunette walked up the sweeping staircase just as Riku turned, smiling deviously.

"Want to go to a real party?"

* * *

A small band gathered near the upright piano, creating the lively stomping music using fiddles, accordions, and tambourines that filled the room. People of all ages were dancing, the adults drinking beer and wine, smoking, laughing, and even brawling.

Roxas handed Sora a small glass of a strong drink. Riku, meanwhile, danced with five-year-old blonde Naminé, or tried to, with her standing on his feet. As the tune ended, Riku bowed. "I'm going to dance with him now, okay?" he said to her, pointer to Sora. Namine nodded and scampered off. Sora stood, surprised at this sudden invitation, and they faced each other. He trembled as Riku took his right hand into his left. His other hand slid to the small of the brunette's back.

"I don't know the steps," Sora said softly, uncomfortable.

"Just move with me. Don't think, okay?"

The music started. Their movements were a little awkward at first, but Sora started to get into it. He grinned at Riku as he started to get the rhythm of the steps. Sora pulled off his long coat and flung it at Roxas. He then grabbed Riku, and they plunged back into the fray, dancing faster as the music sped up.

The scene was rowdy and rollicking. A table was knocked over as a drunk crashed into it, and in the middle of it was Sora dancing with Riku, their faces shined with sweat. A space opened around them as people began to watch them, clapping as the band played faster and faster.

Riku took Sora's hands and he started spinning, bringing his partner along with him. Riku was too strong for him, so the younger male just went along with it. They kept spinning, knowing that if one or the other let go, they'd fall back forcefully.

"Riku! No!" Sora screamed, laughing. Riku smiled and yelled, just as happy. The brunette closed his eyes and did the same. The tuned ended in a mad rush, and Riku stepped away from Sora with a flourish, allowing him to take a bow. Exhilarated and slightly tipsy, he leaned over to the side, almost falling. Riku slid his arm around Sora's waist, helping him stand straight again.

They moved to a table, flushed and sweaty. Sora grabbed Axel's cigarette and took a long drag. The red-head was sulking.

"What's the matter with you, Axel?" Riku asked.

Axel shrugged and twirled his finger on the wooden table. "I have a problem."

"What?" Sora budded in. Axel didn't seem to mind.

He pointed across the room. "You see him?" he asked, talking about Roxas, who was on the other side of the room, dancing with a girl. Sora nodded. "Well, he's not giving in to me. I've _tried _to wait, but I can't wait anymore!"

Riku smiled and patted his friend on the back. "Don't worry, Ax. I _know_ you. Just use some of that charm of yours. And if _that_ doesn't work, _make_ him."

Axel looked up and happily nodded. "Rape time!" He stood up, dusted off his pants, and went across the room to Roxas.

Riku watched proudly as he felt Sora tap his shoulder. He turned, staring straight into Sora's eyes. He looked sleepy. "R-Riku, I don't… I don't feel so good," he said, before completely crashing onto his chest.

The door to the well deck was open a few inches as Kairi watched through the gap. She watched Riku held Sora, both of them smiling. She narrowed her eyes and closed the door. Obviously plotting something evil, adding to her already out-of-character evilness and stalkerness.

* * *

The sea of stars blazed overhead, so bright and clear that you could see the Milky Way. Sora and Riku walked along the row of lifeboats; the brunette was wrapped in a blanket and had his arms around Riku, keeping him from falling over. Still giddy from the party, they were singing a song.

"_We_ _were at the beach. Everybody had matching towels! Somebody went under a dock, and there they saw a rock. But it wasn't a rock. It was a rock lobster!_" they sang, sounding drunk. They fumbled the words and broke down laughing as they reached the First Class entrance. Through the doors, the sound of the ship's orchestra wafted gently. Sora leaned back, staring at the cosmos.

"Isn't it magnificent? It's grand and endless," he whispered, able to see his breath as it passed through his lips. He went toward the rail and leaned forward. "They're such small people, Riku, my crowd. They think they're giants on the earth, but they're not even dust in God's eye. They live inside this little tiny champagne bubble, and someday the bubble's going to burst, and all the champagne is going to spit into other people's eyes, and it will sting, and—"

Riku bent forward on the rail next to him, his hand touching Sora's, effectively shutting him up. It was the slightest contact imaginable, and all either one of them could feel was that square inch of skin where they were touching.

"You're not one of them. There's been a mistake."

"A mistake?" Sora said, surprised.

"Uh huh. You were never meant to exist. You're adopted. You real parents didn't want you and left you on the wrong doorstep. In all reality, nobody wanted you."

Sora laughed nervously, trying to take it as a joke.

"Think of it this way: you got mailed to the wrong address."

Sora started laughing, "I did, didn't I?" He suddenly pointed to the sky. "Look! A shooting star."

"That was a long one. My father used to say that whenever you saw one, it was a soul going to heaven."

"You mean someone just died? Are you serious? That's freaking _awesome_! But wait… aren't we supposed to wish on it? Isn't that morbid? People wishing on dead souls?"

Riku looked at him, already used to Sora's ramblings, and found that they were suddenly very close together. It would be so easy to move another couple of inches, to kiss him. Sora seemed to be thinking the same thing, and an uneasy tension formed between them.

"What would you wish for?"

After a beat, Sora pulled back. "Something I can't have," he said, smiling sadly. "Goodnight, Riku. And thank you for showing me what it's like to live in the slums."

He left the rail and hurried through the First Class entrance, back to love and luxury. "Sora!" Riku yelled after him, but the door banged shut, and he was gone, ack to his awe-inspiring world.

Riku looked crestfallen. He hadn't even gotten laid.

* * *


	5. O Ye What a Confusing Song This Is

**Disclaimer: **We don't own Kingdom Hearts or Titanic… blah blah blah - and… the slight quote at the end you may recognize…? No own :) But that song 'O Ye What a Confusing Song This Is,' we TOTALLY do. Pwned.

* * *

It was a bright clear Sunday. Sunlight splashed across the promenade as Kairi and Sora had breakfast in silence, the tension blatant. The tension was palpable. Marlene, in her maid's uniform, poured the coffee and went inside.

"I had hoped you would come to me last night," Kairi said, grabbing a morning roll.

"I was tired," Sora told her, honestly.

"Yes. Your exertions below decks were no doubt exhausting."

Sora stiffened. "What?"

Kairi smirked. "Yes. I've told mother and Cloud, and this morning Mother and I were with Aerith and Selphie, so they know as well."

"But… but why?"

She frowned. "Because I can."

"But I mean—why did you tell them? That makes no sense."

Kairi's arm swept the breakfast china off the table with a crash. She moved to him in one shocking moment, glowering over him and gripping the sides of his chair. Sora was trapped between her arms. "You are my husband in practice, if not yet by law. So you will honor me, as a husband is required to honor his wife! I will not be made out a fool. You will not see him again, and you will stay by my side always. Is this anyway unclear?"

Sora sunk into the chair. "I see why you're angry, but no need to ruin perfectly good dishes, Godzilla."

He noticed Marlene, frozen, partway through the door bringing the orange juice. Kairi stood up, thoroughly confused as to what this 'Godzilla' was. She decided that it must be a compliment, a foreign language of some sort meaning 'beautiful butterfly.' Yes, let's go with that. Kairi followed Sora's gaze and saw Marlene, straightening herself and proudly walking out of the room. Probably to brag about the newest pet-name she had been given. If she only knew…

Denzel walked out. "She's got you on a whip, there, you know?"

Sora rolled his eyes. _I guess it's best to lie low. _Taking that in a literal sense, he slid onto the floor and sighed, picking up shards of glass.

* * *

Kairi was dressing the day and was in the middle of help from Marlene with her corset. The tight bindings did not inhibit her fury at all. Yuffie walked in, immediately demanding tea and sent Marlene out of the room. She locked the door behind her, not wanting to be interrupted. "You are not to say anything disrespectful to poor Sora anymore. Is that clear? I forbid it," she said, her knee at the base of her daughter's back. She pulled the corset strings with both hands.

"Oh, stop it, Mother. You'll give yourself a nosebleed," Kairi grunted.

Yuffie pulled Kairi's arm, forcing them to lock eyes. "This is not a game. Our situation is precarious. You know the money's gone, Kairi."

"Of course I know it's gone. You remind me damn every day." she growled.

"Your father left us nothing but a legacy of bad debts hidden by a good name, and that name is the only card we have to play." Yuffie turned her back around and grabbed the corset strings again. Kairi sucked in her waist as her mother pulled. "I don't understand you. It is a fine match with Sora, and it will insure my—I mean, _our_ survival."

Kairi looked hurt and lost. "How can you put this on my shoulders?"

Kairi turned to her, seeing the fear in her mother's eyes.

"Do you want to see me working as a seamstress? Is that what you want? Do you want to see our fine things sold at an auction, our memories scattered to the winds? My God, Kairi, how can you be so selfish?"

Kairi raised her brow. "Selfish?"

"I know of your fling with Cloud, Kairi." Yuffie whispered, very ashamed of her daughter.

Kairi froze. _How the hell does she know about_ _that?_

"It will end, do you understand me? He doesn't have money."

Kairi nodded, her mother's words going one ear and out the other. I mean, it's Cloud, who _wouldn'_t have a fling with him?

* * *

At the Church service, Captain Highwind led the First Class group in the hymn 'O Ye What a Confusing Song This Is.' Kairi and Sora sang in the middle of the crowded room, while Cloud 

stood well back, keeping an eye on his prey, Leon, standing near the front. The blonde noticed a commotion at the entry doors where Riku had been stopped by two stewards.

"Look, you, you're not supposed to be in here," the steward told Riku, holding him back. The silver-haired male was dressed in his third class clothes, hat in hand, looking out of place.

"I was just here last night. Don't you remember?" Riku yelled back. He noticed Cloud coming toward him. "He'll tell you!"

Cloud frowned. Sora had told him about the enjoyment he had last night with Riku, but Cloud wasn't going to disobey Kairi's orders. "Miss Kairi and Sora continue to be most appreciative of your assistance. They asked me to give you this in gratitude." He held out two twenty dollar bills, which Riku refused to take.

"I don't want money. I—"

"—and also to remind you that you hold a third class ticket and your presence here is no longer fitting."

Riku pleaded, "I just need to talk to Sora for a—"

"Gentlemen, please see that Riku here gets back where he belongs," Cloud told the strewards, handing them the twenties. "And that he stays there."

"Yes sir!" the steward exclaimed, turning to Riku. "Come along, you."

Inside the dining hall, Sora sang, oblivious. "_O hear us when we cry to thee to hand us some freaking tea._"

* * *

There were machines in the gym that were recognizable, and some that weren't. A ridiculous looking woman pedaled a stationary bicycle in a long dress. Leon Leonhart led a small tour group past her, which included Kairi, Yuffie, Sora and Cloud. The blonde stood right beside him in attempt to brush against his shoulder every chance got. Sora was working the oars of a stationary rowing machine with a well trained stroke.

The woman on the stationary bike shall henceforth be called Sue. In all her concentration, Sue did not realize that her dress had been caught in the pedal chain until it was too late.

"Oh... crap…"

The gym instructor was a bouncy little man in white flannels, eager to show off his modern equipment, like his present-day counterpart on an 'Abflex' or 'How To Lose That Yuna-Sized Ass' infomercial. He hit a switch and a machine with a saddle on it started to undulate. Yuffie put her hand on it, curious. Random sounds of overwhelming pain and destruction chorused in 

the general direction of the stationary bike. The small tour group ignored the poor plight of little Sue.

"The electric horse is very popular. We even have an electric camel. Care to try your hand at the rowing, ma'am?"

"Don't be absurd. I can't think of a skill I should likely need less," Yuffie told him.

"The next stop on our tour will be bridge. This way, please," Leon announced.

The company left, and Sue was left alone twitching on the floor, surrounded by the debris of what use to be a modern stationary bike. The moral to this pointless sub scene? Stationary bikes will kill you; that, and it's stupid to wear long dresses whilst exercising.

* * *

Riku, walking with determination, was followed closely by Roxas and Axel. He quickly climbed the steps to B-Deck and stepped over the gate separating the third from second class.

"He's a god amongst mortal boys with twelve year old bodies, there's no denying that. But he's in another world, Riku. Forget him. He's closed the door," Roxas said, slapping Axel's eager hand away from his behind. "And stop that!"

Axel put his hand down and made the kicked puppy face, staring at Roxas desperately. Riku moved furtively to the wall below the A-Deck promenade.

"It was them, not him," he said, glancing around the deck. "Ready... go."

Roxas shook his head resignedly and put his hands together, crouching down. Axel did the same, adding extra strength. Riku stepped into Roxas' and Axel's hands and was pushed up to the First Class deck, where he scrambled nimbly over the railing.

"He's not being logical, I tell you," Roxas said, still shaking his head.

"Love is not logical," Axel said, bursting out of his boundary line. He gently pushed the unsuspecting Roxas into the railing, pulling him into a kiss that bruised. Roxas grunted and gripped Axel's shoulders, but did not push him away. Somewhere, millions of fan girls finally got a small serving of fulfillment.

* * *

A man was playing with his son as he was spinning a top with a string. The man's overcoat and hat were sitting on a deck chair nearby. Riku emerged from behind one of the huge deck cranes and calmly picked up the coat and bowler hat. He walked away, slipping into the coat, and slicked his hair back with spit. At a distance, he could pass for a gentleman, but that's at a 

distance. There's a difference, but if someone actually noticed that Riku was _not _a first class gentlemen, the story would go completely out of whack, so we're not doing anything about it.

* * *

Zexion, the Junior Wireless Operator of the ship, hustled in and skirted around Leon's tour group to hand a gram to Captain Highwind. "Another ice warning, sir. This one from the 'Wonderland'," he reported.

"Thanks, Zexion," Cid said, glancing at the message. He nodded reassuringly to Sora and the group, nonchalantly putting it in his pocket. "Not to worry, it's quite normal for this time of year. In fact, we're speeding up. I've just ordered the last boilers lit."

Leon scowled slightly before motioning the group toward the door. They exited just as Second Officer Demyx came out of the chartroom, stopping next to First Officer Pence.

"Did we ever find those binoculars for the lookouts?" Demyx asked, looking down at a chart on a paper in his hands.

"No. Haven't seen them since we left the port. But don't worry, Demyx, this ship can't sink, so we won't need them anyway. Unless, of course, the lookouts don't pay attention, _then_ we'd have a problem. Or if our ship can't turn in time to dodge a, let's say, large mass of floating ice, but what is the chance of _that_ happening?"

* * *

Leon led the group back from the bridge along the boat deck. Sora moved to Leon's other side that wasn't occupied by Cloud. "Mr. Leonhart, I did the sum in my head, and with the number of lifeboats times the capacity you mentioned. Forgive me, but it seems that there are not enough for everyone aboard."

"There is about half, actually. Sora, you miss nothing, do you? In fact, I put in these new type davits, which can take an extra row of boats here." He gestured along the deck. "But it was thought by some that the deck would look too cluttered. So I was over-ruled."

"Waste of deck space as it is on an unsinkable ship," Yuffie said, gently slapping a lifeboat.

"KNOCK ON WOOD!"

Leon stopped, glancing around the deck. Perplexed and unable to find the source of the shouting, he continued nonchalantly. "Sleep soundly, Sora. I have built you a fine ship, strong and true. These are all the lifeboats you'll need."

As they were passing Boat 7, a shadowy gentleman turned from the rail and walked up behind them, his rather noticeable silver hair hanging from his hat. He tapped Sora on the arm and the brunette turned, gasping. He motioned and they cut away from the group, ducking into the gym. 

Riku closed the door behind him and looked out through the ripple-glass window to the starboard rail, where the gym instructor was kicking a still twitching Sue.

"Riku, this is impossible. I can't see you," Sora whispered, staring at the ground. "Everyone knows about last night and Kairi is furious. Women were given rights fourteen years ago! I can't control her fury, she'll eat me!"

Riku took him by the shoulders.

"Sora, you're no batch of roses. You're a spoiled little brat even, but under that you're a strong, pure heart, and you're the most amazingly astounding guy I've ever known and—"

"Riku, I—"

"No, wait. Let me try to get this out. You're amazing... and I know I have nothing to offer you, Sora. I know that. But I'm involved now. You jump, I laugh, remember? I can't turn away without knowing that you're going to be happy, alright? Suicide just isn't funny unless it's unexpected, so no emo!"

"I don't see why I _wouldn't_ be alright, Riku." Sora felt the tears coming to his eyes. What a baby. "You're making this very hard. I'll be fine. Really. See? Happy!" Insert cheesiest grin ever. You've all seen it. It's that face Sora makes that gives children nightmares.

Riku shook his head, giving him a quizzical look from the grin he received. "I don't think so. They've got you in a glass jar like some firefly, and you're going to die if you don't break out. Maybe not right away, because you're strong, but sooner or later the fire in you is going to go out."

"I… I don't get what you mean. Fire? FIRE!" Sora yelled, about to run around the room.

Riku sighed, tightening his hands. "Sora, it's all money in that world. Kairi doesn't love you. She doesn't _want _you. Not like I do."

Sora looked up into Riku's eyes, surprised. He was at all shocked at the haunting truth Riku exposed, but that _nobody wanted him_…

"All she wants is money, Sora," Riku whispered. "That's _all _they want, every one of them. Sora, you don't want money. You want love, don't you, Sora?"

Sora gulped, not knowing exactly what to say. He frowned suddenly. "It's not up to you to save me, Riku."

"You're right. Only you can do that," Riku said, nodding. After a few dreadful seconds, Riku leaned closer, almost touching his lips. Sora moved his head to the side.

"I have to get back. They'll wonder where I am. Please, Riku, for both our sakes, leave me alone," he said, breaking away. He ran out of the door, leaving Riku standing by the window.

"Damn it. At _this _rate that's the closest thing to sex I'll have with him!" he cried.

* * *

In the most elegant room on the ship, the first class lounge, Sora sat on a divan with Yuffie, Kairi, Aerith, and Selphie taking tea. He was as silent and still as a porcelain figurine as the conversation washed around him. Kairi had demanded that he come with her to this boring as hell gathering.

"The invitations had to be sent back to the printers twice. And the bridesmaids dresses! Let me tell you what an odyssey_ that _has been," Yuffie told them, starting a whole new conversation.

Sora's eyes wandered to a table where a father and son were having hard liquor. The four year old boy, looking a lot like Sora in his suit, daintily picked up a cookie. _Yumm… cookie, _Sora thought. The father was correcting him on his posture, and the way he held the shot glass. The little boy was trying so hard to please, his expression serious. It was a glimpse of Sora at that age, the pain to becoming a perfect gentleman and the hangovers that came after.

Sora calmly and deliberately turned his girlish teacup over, spilling tea all over him. "Oh, look what I've done," he said, all too unexcitedly. He excused himself from the table.

* * *

The Titanic steamed forward in the dusk light, as if lit by the embers of a giant fire. Riku stood at the bow, right at the apex of the railing. He closed his eyes, letting the chill wind clear his head.

"Hello, Riku."

Riku turned to see Sora standing behind him.

"I changed my mind," the brunette said calmly, his face glowing in the orange light. Riku smiled at him, his eyes drinking Sora in. Sora's cheeks were red from the chill wind, and his eyes sparkled as Riku's hair billowed wildly about his face.

"Axel said you might be—"

"Shhh. Come here," Riku whispered, grabbing Sora's hand. He put his hands on the brunette's waist, as if he was going to kiss him. "Close your eyes."

Sora did, and Riku pressed him gently to the rail, standing behind him. He then took Sora's two hands and raised them until he was standing with his arms outstretched on each side. When he lowered his hands, Sora's arms stood up like wings. _Why must everything be so damn girly!_

"Okay. Open them."

Sora gasped. There was nothing in his field of vision but water. It was like there was no ship under them at all, just the two of them soaring. The Atlantic unrolled toward him, a hammered copper shield under a dusk sky. There was only the wind and the hiss of the water fifty feet below.

"I'm flying!" he yelled, leaning forward, arching his back. Riku put his hands on his waist to steady him and gave him a funny look.

"Sure… let's go with that."

"Shut up, Riku! You always ruin everything!" Sora whined.

The brunette closed his eyes, floating weightless far above the sea. "That's better…" He smiled dreamily at the silence, and then leaned back, gently pressing his back against Riku's chest. Slowly Riku raised his hands, arms outstretched, and they met Sora's, fingertips gently touching. Then their fingers intertwined. Moving slowly, their fingers caressed through and around each other like the bodies of two lovers.

Riku tipped his face forward into Sora's blowing hair, letting the scent of his wash over him, until his cheek was against his ear.

Sora turned his head until his lips were near Riku's. Yup…it's got to be all about the lips. He lowered his arms, turning further, until he found his mouth with Riku's. Riku wrapped his arms around the brunette from behind, and they kissed like that with Sora's head turned and tilted back, surrendering to Riku, to the emotion, to the inevitable. They kissed, slowly and tremulously, and then with building passion.

"Get a room!" a voice yelled at them, which was made out as the pouting Axel.

* * *

Old Sora blinked, seeming to come back to the present. He saw the wreck on the screen, the sad ghost ship deep in the abyss. "That was the last time Titanic ever saw daylight."

Rikku changed the tape in the mini-cassette recorder. "So we're up to dusk on the night of the sinking. Ten hours to go."

"Six," Yuna corrected.

Rikku didn't understand. "Six?"

Yuna smiled.

Rikku placed a finger on her chin. "You know, I've always wondered why we still insist on using tape recorders for these types of things. We _are_ in the age of technology." Yuna sighed and decided to ignore Rikku. She just continued. "But don't you love it? There's Captain Cid Highwind, and he's standing there with the iceberg warning in his hand, but he's ordering more speed."

"Twenty six years of experience working against him. He figures anything big enough to sink the ship they're going to see in time to turn. But the ship's too big with too small a rudder. It can't corner worth shit. Everything he knows is wrong," Paine explained. Apparently, she had done her research. Sora ignored this conversation. He had the comb in his hands, turning it slowly as he watched a monitor showing the ruins of a suite. Like in a dream, the beautiful woodwork and satin upholstery emerged from the rusted ruin. The two young males entered Sora's suddenly new suite.

Riku was overwhelmed by the opulence of the room, setting his sketchbook and drawing materials on the marble table.

"Will this light do? Don't artists need good light?" Sora asked.

Riku shook his head. "That is true, I am not used to working in such 'orreeble conditions," he said in a French accent. His train of thought took a side turn when he saw the paintings. "Hey.. 'The Flying Spaghetti Monster!"

He crouched next to the paintings stacked against the wall. "Isn't he great? The use of color and cocaine? I saw him once through a break in trees."

"...Stalker."

Sora went into the adjoining walk-in wardrobe closet, working the combination.

"Kairi insists on lugging this thing everywhere."

"Should I be expecting her anytime soon?" Riku asked, worried.

"Not as long as the gossip and tea continues the girls' conversation."

He unlocked the safe. Glancing up, he met Riku's eyes in the mirror behind it. He opened it quickly and removed the necklace, holding it out for Riku.

Riku took it nervously. "What is it? A sapphire?"

"No, you uncultured boob! It's a diamond. A very rare diamond."

Riku gazed at wealth beyond his comprehension.

"I want you to draw me like your French prostitutes. Wearing this," he said, smiling. He held up the diamond. "Wearing _only_ this."

Riku looked up at him, surprised. "But aren't necklaces girly?"

Sora inconspicuously coughed his annoyance.

"Did I say girly? I mean manly! Like a penis! Only smaller…"

* * *


	6. The Massive Iceberg

**Disclaimer: **We don't own Kingdom Hearts or Titanic or the very small bit of Monty Python goodness... along with a _very_ small part of Napoleon Dynamite… AND a _very _small part of South Park… and Bruce Almighty... and… I think that's about it. We also do not own any of the online flash animations references were made to.

* * *

Riku took out his pencils like tools of death, his sketchbook open and ready. He looked up as Sora came into the sitting room wearing a silk robe, toying with the fabric.

"The last thing I need is another picture of me looking like a twelve-year-old. As a paying customer, I expect to get what I want." Sora smiled, handing him a dime. He then stepped back, parting the fabric, the blue stone on his pale chest. He watched Riku's stricken reaction before lowering it. It was almost comical as the cloth dropped to the floor, the way his eyes seemed to grow ten sizes. "Tell me when it looks right to you."

"Oh, it looks right," Riku replied suggestively, his eyes glued to Sora's pelvis.

"I meant my pose."

"Oh." Riku nodded in understanding and grinned widely, watching as Sora sat on the divan, settling like a cat, his body draped over the cushions. Riku cleared his throat. "Just bend your left leg a little and lower your head. Eyes on me," he said competently, beginning to sketch. He, turning a deep red, suddenly dropped his pencil, and the eye-opening, _naked_, but godly in his childish right, Sora stifled a laugh.

"I believe you are blushing, Mr. Sexy. I can't imagine a bishie blushing. I mean, don't you like, live off these sorts of things?" Sora teased.

Riku kept his eyes down. "Heh." Despite his nervousness, he drew with sure strokes. Sora's pose was graceful, his hands beautiful, and his blue eyes radiated his energy. Over the top edge of his sketchpad, Riku's eyes appeared briefly, much like a frightened child. The brunette laughed. It was a sight Sora would carry for the rest of his life.

* * *

"My heart was pounding the whole time. It was the most erotic moment of my life… up until then, at least." Old Sora's wrinkled lips came to a close.

A semicircle of listeners stared in a rapt, frozen silence. "What, uh... happened next?" Rikku coughed out.

Sora smiled, a cocky look upon his face. "You mean did we do 'it'?"

Rikku nodded wildly like she was about to whack her own head off. I guess there is a fan girl in all of us.

"Sorry to disappoint you," Sora said, almost sadly. He gazed at the drawing, returning to the past. "Riku was very professional."

* * *

"Date it, Riku. I want to always remember this night." Sora whispered. He was in his silk robe once again, staring over Riku's shoulder. The silver-haired male did as he was told, writing "4/14/1912" on the bottom-right corner of the drawing. The brunette, meanwhile, scribbled a note on a piece of Titanic stationary. He then accepted the drawing from Riku and crossed to the safe in the wardrobe.

He put the diamond back in the safe, placing the drawing and the note on top of it. Sora closed the door tightly.

* * *

Titanic glided across an unnatural sea, black and calm as a pool of oil. The ship's lights were mirrored almost perfectly in the black water. The sky was brilliant with stars, and a meteor traced a bright line across the heavens. On the bridge, Captain Highwind peered out at the blackness ahead as Quartermaster Xigbar handed him a cup of hot tea with lemon; it steamed in the bitter cold of the open bridge. Second Officer Demyx was next to him, also staring out at the sheet of black glass the Atlantic had become.

"I don't think I've _ever _seen such a flat calm in twenty four years at sea," Demyx oddly announced.

"Am I supposed to care?" Xigbar grunted.

"Listen, you, Mr. Yo Ho Pirate," Demyx warned, grabbing Xigbar's eye patch. His hand was swatted away.

"Yes, the sea is like a mill pond. Not a breath of wind," Cid agreed.

"It's make the bergs harder to see, with no breaking water at the base," Xigbar reported. If only he realized the irony in this statement. Had he realized it, thousands of horrible, painful, ridiculously gory and bloody deaths may have been prevented. With so many tortured souls at once, Sora's 'special ability' might go haywire.

"Well, I'm off. Maintain speed, Demyx," Cid said, turning away.

"Yes, sir."

"And wake me, of course, if anything becomes in the slightest degree doubtful." He smiled, sipping his tea.

* * *

Sora, fully dressed, returned to the sitting room, suddenly hearing a key in the lock. Fearful, he took Riku's hand and led him silently through the bedrooms. The door behind them opened, and Kairi entered by the sitting room. "Sora? Hello?" She heard another door opening.

Sora and Riku rushed out of the stateroom, closing the door. Looking around, the brunette quickly led them along the corridor toward the deck foyer. They were halfway across the open space when the sitting room door opened in the corridor and Kairi walked out, curious. Riku smiled and squeezed Sora's hand, swinging their arms. The brunette smiled back, but as he locked looks with his fiancée across the way, his face fell.

"Come on!" he yelled, and they broke into a run, surprising the few ladies standing about. Sora led them past the stairs to the bank of elevators. They quickly stepped into one, surprising the operator as they pushed him into the wall. "Take us down! _Now_," Sora demanded, closing the steel gate. The Operator scrambled to comply.

The red-headed beauty into the lift as it started to descend. She slammed one hand on the bars of the gate, injuring her delicate hand. "Shit! _God _that hurt, damn it! " Sora made a very rude gesture, sticking up his middle finger, and laughed as Kairi disappeared above. The operator gaped at him.

* * *

Kairi emerged from another lift and hurried to the empty elevator the men had taken, the operator closing the gate to go back up. She ran around the bank of elevators and scanned the foyer; there was no Sora or Riku. She decided try the stairs going down to the lower deck. Down on said deck, Sora and Riku were leaning against a wall in the corridors, laughing while trying to catch their breath.

"Pretty tough for a wife, that woman," Riku panted.

Sora laughed through his gasps. "I never knew that she could run that fast."

"I'm surprised she can actually run in those heels and that dress—oh, _no_."

Kairi appeared in a cross-corridor nearby. She quickly noticed them, turning and charging toward them. Sora squealed as they ran around a corner into a blind alley. There was only one door, marked _'Crew Only'_, and Riku flung it open.

They entered a small white room, with no way out but a ladder going down. Riku latched the deadbolt on the door, which Kairi slammed against a moment later. He grinned at Sora, pointing to the ladder.

"After you, m'lady."

Sora narrowed his eyes, but dismissed the some-what insult.

The two climbed down the escape ladder into the boiler room, looking around in amazement. It was a vision of Hell itself with the roaring furnaces and black figures moving in the smoky glow. Sora and Riku turned away from the ladder and ran the length of the boiler room, dodging surprised stokers and trimmers with wheelbarrows of coal as they held hands.

Riku shouted over the persistent noise of the furnaces. "Carry on! Don't mind us! You're doing an excellent job, whatever the hell you guys are doing!"

They headed through the open watertight door into next boiler room over, through the fiercely hot alley between two boilers. They wound up in the dark, out of sight of the working crew. Watching from the shadows, they watched the stokers working in the hellish glow, shoveling coal into the insatiable gaping holes of the furnaces, amazed.

* * *

Riku and Sora entered a large storage room, laughing as they calmly walked between the rows of stacked cargo. The brunette hugged himself against the cold after being in the dipping heat of the boiler room. They came upon a brand new Renault touring car, its shiny windows drawing Sora in closer. It looked like a royal coach from a fairy tale, its brass trim and headlamps nicely set off by its deep burgundy color. Everyone knows this car. This is _the _car, the one car that will accommodate _the_ moment people have been waiting for.

Sora looked at _the car._ "I just had a great idea!"

Riku looked at him quizzically. "And what might that idea be?"

"Let's…have…JUICE!" Sora gave that ever-bright, ever-annoying grin of his. Riku, seemingly taking this all wrong, went slightly bug-eyed. Sora laughed cheerfully.

"I was only joking. My _real_ idea was…" Sora looked up at Riku with a dreamy, seductive look on his face. "You know what I really want to do?"

"Me?" Riku replied hopefully. Sora scoffed.

"No, silly. I want to steam up these windows!"

Sora climbed into the plushy upholstered back seat, acting very royal. There were cut crystals and vases on the walls, each containing a rose. Riku gained a special glint in his eyes, once again assuming perverse thoughts. He then jumped into the driver's seat, enjoying the feel of the leather and wood.

"Where to, sir?" he asked, putting on a snobby English accent. The brunette's hands came out of the shadows and landed on Riku's shoulders

"To the stars," he whispered, smiling. Sora pulled him over the seat and Riku landed next to him, his breath loud in the quiet darkness. He looked anxiously at the still-smiling Sora.

"Are you nervous?" Riku asked, running his fingers through Sora's hair.

"Nervous about what?"

Riku raised his eyebrow. "Didn't… Don't you want to…?"

Sora looked disgusted. "What? I…_eww_! How the hell do you interpret sex from stars and windows?"

Riku stroked his face, cherishing him. "You're kidding, right?"

"Maybe," Sora laughed.

Riku nodded. "If you aren't, I'm about to kick you in a very uncomfortable place, you know that?"

Sora stopped laughing. Not about the pain that he could endure if Riku had hit him there, but what he was about to demand. "I think I'm ready, Riku."

Riku stared at him for a few awkward moments before kissing him, and he slid down in the seat under his welcome weight.

* * *

Junior Wireless Operator Zexion rapidly keyed out a message on the Marconi instrument. His long name title can be as intimidating as his looks. He looked through the huge stack of outgoing messages. "Look at this one. He wants his private train to meet him. La dee da," he mumbled to himself, slapping the paper down. "I'll be up all bloody night on this lot." Zexion started to receive an incoming message from a nearby ship, the Californian, which jammed his outgoing signal. At such close range, the beeps were deafening. "Holy sweet nibblets! It's that idiot on the Californian." Cursing, Zexion furiously keyed a rebuke.

On the freighter Californian, Wireless Operator Nero pulled his earphone off his ear as the Titanic's spark deafened him. He translated the message for his brother, Third Officer Weiss.

"Stupid bastard. I try to warn him about the ice, and he says '_Keep out. Shut up. You don't know what you're talking about._' Do you hear this asshole?"

"Now what's he sending?" Weiss asked.

Nero started to translate the message immediately. It was rather long. He read it out loud as he wrote. "'You're… an… ass… sucker... It… means… you suck… ass… You see… an… ass, you… suck… it…. You're… an… ass… sucker…"

Weiss looked like a man whose cat was just brutally flattened under a car's tire and magically caught on fire afterward. "Oh, no, he did not," he yelled before taking over the machine. He began typing furiously.

Zexion received the message, puzzled. "'Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelled of elderberries'? What?" He didn't understand, but he replied with the best thing he could come up with.

Weiss translated. "'Your mom goes to college'?" He hastily replied, "I'll bet your father spent the first year of your life throwing rocks at the stork."

"Why, you stuck up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf-herder!"

"You starveling! You eel-skin! You dried newt's tongue, you stock-fish!"

Zexion didn't even understand half the words in that last message.

"Go and boil your bottoms, you sons of a silly person. I blow my nose at you."

Nero typed "Anal blowing butt monkey!" and shut off the receiver. Hopefully that ship full of bastards would sink or something. KNOCK ON WOOD. Ahem… onward!

* * *

The rear window of the Renault was completely fogged as planned. It looks like Sora got what he wanted. Come on, people. I'm sure _some _thought comes to mind. You all know what happens now. It's imprinted into the minds of people forever, the seductive hand with heavy implications, smearing the steamy windows.

A finger appeared from the window and drew a small circle in the fog. Inside it, two dots were drawn and the half circle on the bottom made a face. Inside the car was the muffled sound of Sora. "Look, Riku! I made a smiley face!" Inside the car, Riku's overcoat was like a blanket over them and they were huddled under it, intertwined, but still clothed. Their faces were flushed as they looked at each other wonderingly.

"You're trembling," Sora said.

Riku nodded. "That's… that's a damn good face, Sora!"

_Well, I wasn't the first teenage boy to get seduced in the backseat of a car, and certainly not the last, by several million. _

Riku half smiled. "Sora… can we do it now?"

Sora nodded. "Sure, why not? I've been waiting to do it forever!"

"Okay..."

"Gods, what the hell are you _doing_?!"

"I'm…you know—"

"I was talking about having the juice, you idiot!"

Riku sighed. "Shut up."

The car began to move. A few moans came from Sora. "Riku!"

"What? I haven't done anything yet!" Riku said.

"This seat is hurting my back! It's digging into my skin!" Sora complained. Riku sighed and the car shifted once again, with a few more whines from Sora.

"Riku! This seat is hurting my back!"

"Will you shut up already?"

"But it's hurting my back! I—"

* * *

The tiny half-cylinder of the crow's nest lured high above with lookouts Kadaj and Yazoo inside. They were stamping their feet and swinging their arms, trying to keep warm in the freezing wind.

"You can _smell_ ice, you know, when it's near," Yazoo said.

"Oh, shut up," Kadaj replied simply. He was way too cold to deal with Yazoo beside him.

"Well_ I_ can."

* * *

Without hearing the words over the roar of the furnaces, stokers were telling two stewards which way Sora and Riku went. The stewards moved off toward the storage room.

* * *

Kairi stood at the open safe. She stared at the drawing of Sora, her face clenched with fury as she read the note again.

"Darling, now you can keep us both locked in your safe.

- _SORA_, a.k.a, the Love Monkey That HATES you."

Cloud, standing behind her, looked over her shoulder at the drawing. Kairi crumpled Sora's note and took the drawing in both hands as if to rip it in half. She tensed to do it, and then stopped herself, looking down upon it.

"I have a better idea."

* * *

The two stewards entered the cargo space. They had electric torches in their hands and played the beams around the hold. They spotted the Renault with its fogged rear window and approached it slowly. From inside, the torch lit up Sora's passionate smiley face, still there on the fogged up glass. One steward silently reached for the handle and quickly opened the door. "Got you!"

The back seat, unfortunately, was empty.

"Damn. And I thought we were going to see some action," the other steward complained.

* * *

Sora and Riku, fully dressed, came through a crew door onto the deck. They could barely stand as they were laughing. Up above them, in the crow's nest, lookout Yazoo heard the disturbance below and looked down to the well deck, where he could see Riku and Sora in each other's arms. Their breath clouds floated around them in the now freezing air, but together, they didn't feel the cold.

"When this ship docks, I'm getting off with you," Sora said, kissing Riku's neck.

"This is crazy," Riku laughed.

"I know. It doesn't make any sense. That's why I trust it."

Riku pulled Sora to him and kissed him lightly on the lips. In the crow's nest, Yazoo nudged Kadaj. "Would you look at that? It's that man that woman is supposed to marry, but here's the twist: he's with another man. Oh, the drama! His mistress must be awfully mad, probably plotting some sick revenge and generally being an evil character. She _has _to be evil if she tries to break these two up."

Kadaj was half asleep. "Oh, I don't care, damn it! They're warmer than we are."

"But then again, isn't that silver-haired androgynous freak the one breaking those two up? Shouldn't he be the rightful evil man?"

"Now you're talking crazy! Sora and Kairi? Together? You need to lay off the drugs. That's not canon at all!" Kadaj seemed to share the same beliefs of many, _many_ people. "It's Riku and Sora all the way. I'm willing to bet—"

Kadaj's expression fell first. Glancing forward again, he did a double take. The color drained out of his face. A massive iceberg was right in their path, 500 yards out.

"Bloody Christ!"

Yazoo reached past Kadaj and rang the lookout bell three times, then grabbed the telephone, calling the bridge. He waited precious seconds for his call to be answered, never taking his eyes off the black mass ahead.

"Pick up, you bastard!"

Inside the enclosed wheelhouse, Sixth Officer Larxene walked unhurriedly to the telephone, picking it up.

"Is someone there?" Yazoo yelled through the phone.

"Yes. What do you see?" Larxene asked, flipping her blonde hair back. Yes, it is possible. Because it's written that way.

"Iceberg right ahead!"

"Thank you," she said, hanging up. She then called First Officer Pence, waiting until he answered. "Iceberg right ahead!"

Pence looked up from the phone and saw the dreaded iceberg. He rushed to the engine room telegraph. While signaling 'Full Speed Astern', he yelled to Quartermaster Xigbar at the wheel.

"Hard a starboard," Pence reported.

Larxene stood behind Xigbar. "Hard a starboard. The helm is hard over, sir."

* * *

Chief Engineer Marluxia was checking the soup he has warming on a steam manifold when the engine telegraph clanged, then changed to '_Full Speed Astern_'. He and the other engineers just stared at it for a moment, unbelieving.

"Full astern! _Full astern_!" Marluxia yelled at them. The engineers and greasers acted like madmen to close steam valves and they started breaking the mighty propeller shafts to a stop. From the bridge, Pence watched the berg growing as it came closer straight ahead. The noticed the bow finally start to move left. His jaw clenched and he held his breath as the front of the ship turned with agonizing slowness.

In the crow's nest, Yazoo and Kadaj braced themselves. The bow of the ship thundered right, and the ship hit the burg on its starboard bow. Underwater, the ice smashed into the steel hull plates. The berg bumped and scraped along the side and rivets popped as the steel plate of the hull flexed under the load.

In the bottom storage room, the two stewards staggered as the hull buckled in four feet with a sound like thunder. Like a sledgehammer beating along outside the ship, the berg split the hull plates and the sea poured in, sweeping them off their feet. The icy water swirled around the Renault as the men scrambled for the stairs.

On the steerage's bottom deck, Axel and Roxas were tossed in Roxas' bunk by the impact, hearing a sound like the greatly amplified squeal of a skate on ice.

In one of the boiler rooms, two men staggered as they heard the rolling thunder of the collision. They saw the starboard side of the ship buckle in toward them and were surprised by a rush of water coming in about two feet above the floor.

On upper deck, Riku and Sora broke their kiss and looked up in astonishment as the berg sailed past, blocking out the sky like a mountain. Fragments broke off and crashed down onto the ship, and they had to jump back to avoid death by impalement via flying chunks of ice.

On the bridge, Pence rang the watertight door alarm. He quickly threw the switch that closed them. Two men below heard the door alarm and scrambled through the swirling water to the watertight door between two of the boiler rooms. The room was full of water vapor as the cold sea hit the red hot furnaces. One man yelled to the stokers scrambling through the door as it came down like a slow guillotine. "Go, lads! Go! Go!" He dived through into the next boiler room just before the door rumbled down with a clang.

Sora and Riku rushed to the starboard rail in time to see the berg moving aft down the side of the ship.

In his stateroom, surrounded by piles of plans while making notes in his ever-present book, Leon looked up at the sound of a cut-crystal light fixture tinkling like a wind chime. He felt the shudder run through the ship, and Cloud, who was sitting across from him, saw it in Leon's face. Too much of his soul was in this great ship for him not to feel its mortal wound.

In the first class smoking room, Merlin watched his highball vibrating on the table. In the next area over, the Palm Court, with its high arched windows, Olette held up her drink to a passing waiter. "Hey, can I get some ice here, please?" Silently, a moving wall of ice filled the window behind her, disappearing afterward.

In the crow's nest, Kadaj turned to Yazoo. "Smell ice, can you? Bleeding Christ," Kadaj yelled. Zexion appeared out of nowhere. Literally.

"You shouldn't trust this bumbling idiot! Of course he can't _smell_ ice. That's my job. It makes me wonder why I wasn't given his role, even if I do prefer my own. I am the one with 

SuperScent, and my SuperScent is telling me of impending doom, horrible mass death and pain. Brutal mauling and vicious shredding in the prope—"

He was interrupted by loud emergency bells. On the bridge, the alarm bells still clattered mindlessly, seeming to reflect Pence's inner state. He was in shock, unable to get a grip on what just happened. _He just ran the biggest ship in history into an iceberg on its maiden voyage._

"Note the time. Enter it in the log," Pence said stiffly to Larxene.

Captain Highwind rushed out of his cabin onto the bridge, tucking in his shirt. He was wearing pink bunny slippers which Pence noticed immediately. Larxene laughed as she walked by. "What was that, Pence?"

Pence looked up from the fuzzy slippers. "An iceberg, sir. I put her hard a' starboard and run the engines full astern, but it was too close. I tried to port around it, but she hit, and I—"

"Close the emergency doors."

"The doors are closed."

Together, they rushed out onto the starboard wing and Pence pointed. Cid looked into the darkness aft and then wheeled around to Quarter Master Vincent Valentine.

"Find the Carpenter," Cid instructed.

* * *

In steerage, Axel came out into the hall to see what was going on. He saw dozens of rats running toward him in the corridor, fleeing the flooding bow. Axel jumped aside as the rodents ran by.

Roxas jumped out of his top bunk in the dark and dropped down to the floor into the water. "What in hell?"

He turned on the light. The floor was covered with three inches of freezing water with more coming in. He pulled the door open and stepped out into the corridor, which was also flooded. Roxas and Axel started pounding on doors, getting everybody up and out. The alarm spread in several languages.

Axel pounded on one specific door that didn't open.

"Open up, damn it! Emergency!"

A very familiar, very tired Luxord opened the door. Both men looked at each other, dumfounded.

"You… But…"

"You didn't see anything." With that said, Luxord slammed the door. Axel shrugged and started skipping down the hall, whistling a jolly tune in contradiction to the events unfolding around him.

* * *


	7. Two Thousand Souls

**Disclaimer: **We don't own anything. Why would you care anyways? It's not like a huge corporation like SQUEENIX is going to sue MEAGER peasants for something as trivial as FANfiction. AND! Aren't they Japanese? Why would they be on the English part of this site? I guess there are English counterparts but that's neither here nor there! WE OWN NOTHING! …Ahem… this message has been brought to you by SOMETHING corp. Buy something, somewhere at some price.

… If that already exists, we don't own that either (-.-)

* * *

In the first class corridor, a few women and man came out into the corridor in robes and slippers. A steward hurried along, reassuring them.

"Why have the engines stopped? I felt a shudder," a woman asked him. She had a huge wart on her nose that attracted the steward's attention.

"I shouldn't worry, ma'am. We've likely thrown a propeller blade, that's the shudder you felt. May I bring you anything? A Wart-Be-Gone, maybe? Or perhaps a rat from steerage to gnaw it off?"

The woman gasped. "What?!"

Leon Leonhart brushed past them, walking fast and carrying an armload of rolled up ship's plans.

* * *

Riku and Sora leaned over the starboard rail, looking at the hull of the ship. "It looks okay. I don't see anything," said Riku.

"I do. It's a blatantly obvious iceberg back there. How did you miss it? Do you think it could've damaged the ship?"

"It didn't seem like much of a bump. I'm sure we're okay," Riku assured, but wasn't exactly sure himself. Behind them, a couple of steerage men were kicking the ice around the deck, laughing.

* * *

Axel and Roxas stood in a crowd of steerage men clogging the corridors, heading away from the flooding. Many of them had grabbed suitcases and duffel bags, some of which are soaked. Always want to have luggage when you're about to _die_.

"If this is the direction the rodents are running, then it's good enough for me." Roxas laughed, following the small rodents the whole way. Axel followed, an adorable grin forming on his face suddenly while images of a chibi hamster Roxas danced in his head.

"Heh…"

* * *

Seifer Almasy, dressed in pajamas under a topcoat, hurried down the corridor, headed for the bridge. An officious steward came along in the other direction, returning the few concerned passengers back into their rooms. "There's no cause for alarm. Please, go back to your rooms."

He was stopped by Kairi and Cloud.

"Please, ma'am. There's no emergency—"

"Yes there is, I have been robbed. Now get the Master at Arms. _Now_, you moron!" Kairi yelled, shaking her fist at him. Cloud watched her.

"You can… stop shaking your fist now. He's gone."

Kairi looked at her own hand, giving her fist one last good shake "Okay, now I'm good."

* * *

Captain Highwind studied the writing on the papers in his hands. He turned to Leon, standing behind him. "A five degree list in less than ten minutes."

The ship's carpenter, Loz, entered behind him, out of breath and unnerved. "She's making water fast, in the forepeak tank and the forward holds, in boiler room six."

Seifer entered, his movements quick with anger and frustration. Cid glanced at him with annoyance. "Why have we stopped?"

"We've struck ice." Cid replied, trying to keep his cool.

"Do you think the ship is seriously damaged?" Seifer questioned.

Cid glared. "Excuse me." He pushed past Seifer, with Leon and Loz in tow. Seifer stood behind them, confused. "Did I… Did I say something? Is there something on my face? Do I have broccoli on my shirt?" Seifer broke down into tears.

* * *

In boiler room six, stokers and firemen struggled to draw the fires. They were working in waist-deep water churning around them as it flowed into the boiler room, ice-cold and swirling with grease from the machinery. Chief Engineer Marluxia came partway down the ladder and shouted, "That's it, lads. Get the hell up!"

They all scrambled up the escape ladders.

* * *

Two gentlemen on the upper deck, now joined by another man, leaned on the forward rail, watching the steerage men playing soccer with chunk of ice. "I guess it's nothing too serious. I'm going back to my cabin to read."

A young man popped through the door, wearing a topcoat over pajamas. "Say, did I miss the fun?"

Sora and Riku came up the steps from the well deck right next to the three men. They stared as the couple climbed over the locked gate. A moment later, Captain Cid rounded the corner, followed by Leon and Loz, coming down from the bridge by the outside stairs. The three men, their faces grim, rushed past them. Leon barely glanced at them.

"Can you shore up?" Cid asked.

"Not unless the pumps get ahead."

The inspection party went down the stairs to the well deck. Riku lowered his voice. "It's bad."

"We have to tell Kairi and Cloud."

"Now it's worse."

Riku followed Sora through the door inside the ship.

* * *

Sora and Riku crossed the foyer, entering the corridor. Cloud was waiting for them in the hall as they approached the room. "Kairi's been looking for you." Cloud followed and, unseen, moved close behind Riku and smoothly slipped the diamond necklace into the pocket of his overcoat.

Kairi and Yuffie waited in the sitting room, along with the Master at Arms and two stewards. It became silent as Sora and Riku entered. Yuffie closed her robe at her throat. "Something serious has happened!" Sora reported.

Kairi stood. "That's right. Two things dear to me have disappeared this evening. Now that_ one_ is back," she said, looking from Sora to Riku, "I have a pretty good idea where to fine the other. Search him."

The Master at Arms stepped up to Riku. "Coat off, mate."

Cloud pulled at Riku's coat and Riku shook his head in dismay, shrugging out of it. The Master at Arms patted him down.

"Kairi, you can't be serious." Sora rolled his eyes, holding onto the end of Riku's coat. "We're in the middle of an emergency, and you—"

The steward pulled the shiny blue heart thing out of the pocket of Riku's coat. "Is this it?"

Sora was stunned. Needless to say, so was Riku.

Kairi smirked. "That's it."

The Master at Arms started to handcuff Riku. "Right, then. Now don't make a fuss."

Riku tried to push him away. "Don't you believe it, Sora. Don't!"

Sora was uncertain. "He… he couldn't have."

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Of course he could. It's easy enough for a professional. He memorized the combination when you opened the safe."

"But I was with him the whole time!"

"Maybe he did it while you were putting your clothes _back _on," Kairi whispered to him, low and cold.

"They put it in my pocket!" Riku objected.

Kairi read the tag on the coat. "It's not even _your _pocket. 'Property of Seymour Weiner.'"

The room went silent.

"What? That's what it says!" Kairi showed the coat to the Master at Arms. There was a label inside the collar with the owner's name.

"That was reported stolen today. That poor guy."

Riku growled. "I was going to return it."

Sora felt utterly betrayed, hurt and confused. Riku started shouting to him as Cloud and the Master at Arms dragged him out into the hall. The brunette couldn't look him in the eye.

"Sora, don't listen to them... I didn't do this! You know I didn't! _You know it_!"

Sora was devastated. Yuffie put a comforting hand on his shoulder as the tears welled up.

* * *

Cid and Leon came down the steps to the mail-sorting room and found the clerks scrambling to pull mail from the racks. They were furiously hauling wet sacks of mail up from the hold below.

Leon climbed partway down the stairs. Bags of mail floated everywhere. The lights were still on below the surface, casting an eerie glow. The Renault was visible under the water, the brass glinting cheerfully. Leon looked down as the water covered his shoe.

"Hey! A letter from Mom!" He smiled childishly as the water got deeper. "She sent cookies!" He finally tore his gaze to the situation at hand and he scrambled back up the stairs.

* * *

Leon unrolled a long drawing of the ship across the chartroom table, his hands shaking. It was a side elevation, showing all the watertight bulkheads. Pence and a therapy'd Seifer hovered behind Leon and the Captain.

"When can we get underway, do you think?" Seifer questioned, a little bit worried.

Cid glared at him and turned his attention to Leon's drawing. Leon pointed to it for emphasis as he talked. "The water is fourteen feet above the keel in only ten minutes, in the forepeak, in all three holds, and in boiler room six."

Cid nodded. "That's right."

"Five compartments. She can stay afloat with the first four compartments breached, but not five. Not five. As she goes down by the head the water will spill over the tops of the bulkheads, and there will be no stopping it.

"But the pumps—"

"The pumps buy you time, but minutes only. From this moment, no matter what we do, Titanic _will_ founder."

Seifer was unbelieving. "But this ship can't sink!"

"She is made of iron, sir. I assure you, she can, and she _will_. It is a mathematical certainty. Too many people jinxed this ship and they didn't even knock on wood."

Cid looked like he had been gut punched. "Didn't… knock on wood? Those sick bastards! How much time do we have?"

"An hour. Two, at most," Leon said softly, his voice quivering.

Seifer reeled as his dream turned into his worst nightmare. Cid turned to Pence. "And how many aboard, Mr. Murdoch?"

"There are two thousand, two hundred souls aboard, sir."

Leon snorted. "Did you just say souls?"

Pence looked at Leon. "Yeah. Why?"

"They're not dead yet; that's kind of a punch in the face for them, don't you think?"

A long beat. Cid turned to his employer, Seifer. "I believe you may get your headlines, Mr. Almasy."

* * *

From inside the sitting room, Kairi could hear knocking and voices in the corridor. She crossed the room to Sora, regarding him coldly for a moment. She slapped him across the face. To Sora, the blow was inconsequential compared to the blow his heart had been given. Kairi grabbed his shoulders roughly. "Look at me, you little—"

There was a loud knock on the door and an urgent voice. The door opened and their steward put his head in. "Miss, I've been told to ask you to please put on your lifebelt and come up to the boat deck."

"Get out! We're busy," Kairi snarled, heading to close the door. The steward persisted, coming in to get the lifebelts down from the top of a dresser.

"I'm sorry about the inconvenience, miss, but it's Captain's orders. Please dress warmly, it's quite cold tonight," he said, handing a lifebelt to Kairi. He noticed Sora's stunned look.

"Not to worry, sir, I'm sure it's just a precaution."

"This is ridiculous!" Kairi yelled.

In the corridor outside, the stewards were being so polite and obsequious they were conveying no sense of danger whatsoever. However, it was another story downbelow.

* * *

The door was thrown open and the lights snapped on by a steward. A steerage family roused from a sound sleep. "Everybody up! Let's go! Put your lifebelts on!"

In the corridor outside, another steward was going from door to door along the hall, pounding and yelling. "Lifebelts on. Lifebelts on. Everybody up, come on. Lifebelts on..."

People came out of the doors behind the steward, perplexed. In the foreground, a woman asked her husband what was said. He shrugged.

* * *

"CQD, sir?" Zexion asked, looking shocked.

"That's right. The distress call, CQD. Tell whoever responds that we are going down by the head and need immediate assistance." Cid instructed, then hurried out.

Quartermaster Vincent Valentine was in the room. "Maybe you ought to try that new distress call... S.O.S." he said, grinning. "It may be our only chance to use it."

"Yes, but the only ship near enough is the Californian."

"What about it?"

"I'm not talking to those bastards!" Zexion laughed in spite of himself and started sending the S.O.S. distress signal.

* * *

Leon Leonhart looked around in amazement. The upper deck was empty except for the crew fumbling with the davits. He yelled over the roar of the steam to First Officer Pence. "Where are all the passengers?"

"They've all gone back inside. It's too damn cold and noisy for them," Pence responded.

Leon felt like he was in a bad dream. He looked at his pocket watch and headed for the foyer entrance.

* * *

A large number of first class passengers gathered near the grand staircase, indignant about the confusion. Olette snagged a passing young steward. "What's going on? You've got us all dress up and now we're just standing around."

The young steward backed away, stumbling on the stairs. "Sorry, ma'am. Let me go and find out."

Kairi moved across the foyer. She was carrying the lifebelts, almost as an afterthought. Sora beside her was like a sleepwalker. "It's just the God damned English doing everything by the book," she growled, pushing Sora along.

"There's no need for language, Kairi," Yuffie warned, turning to her butler, Denzel. "Go back and turn the heater on in my room. Have tea ready for me when I return."

Leon Leonhart entered, looking around the magnificent room he knew was doomed. Sora, standing nearby, noticed his heartbroken expression and walked over to him, speaking close to 

Leon's ear. Kairi followed quietly, curious as well. "I saw the iceberg, Mr. Leonhart," Sora whispered, alarmed, "and I see it in your eyes. Please tell me the truth."

Leon gulped. "The ship will sink."

Sora's eyes widened. "You're certain?"

Leon's eyes searched the room."Yes. In an hour or so, all this will be at the bottom of the Atlantic."

Kairi covered her mouth. "_My God._" The Titanic? Sinking?

"Please tell only who you must. I don't want to be responsible for a panic, and get to a boat quickly. Please don't wait. You remember what I told you about the boats?"

Sora nodded. "Yes, I understand. Thank you."

Leon went off, moving among the passengers, urging them to put on their lifebelts and get to the boats.

* * *

Cloud and the Master at Arms were handcuffed Riku to a thick water pipe as a crewman rushed in anxiously and almost blurted to the Master at Arms."You're wanted, sir. Urgently!"

"Go on. I'll keep an eye on him," Cloud told them.

Cloud pulled a pearl handled Colt .45 automatic from under his coat. The Master at Arms nodded and exited with the crewman.

Cloud looked at the gun.

Riku looked at the gun.

Riku then looked at Cloud.

Then the gun.

Then Cloud.

"So… nice uhh...gun you have there…"

"Yup."

"Does it… err… shoot well?"

"Yup."

"Well, it was nice talking with you, you emo bastard."

"Yup—wait... emo? Why emo? I've been so out of character for this whole tale that it's like, impossible for me to be emo!"

"…"

"Don't '…' me! I can shoot you! I have a gun!"

"I believe this is where we both shut up and advance the plot." Riku looked at the gun again. "I like swords better."

"Oh, really? Me too. I had this dream that I had this _huge_ sword, like... _huge_…"

* * *

Junior Wireless Operator Zexion relayed a message to Captain Cid from the _Carpathia_, a nearby passenger steamship. "Carpathia says they're making seventeen knots, full steam for them, sir. They've cut the heating and hot water so the engines can feed on every ounce of steam."

"And she's the only one who's responding?"

Zexion frowned. "The only one close, sir. Well, the only one close that _isn't_ full of butt monkeys. The operator says they can be here in four hours."

Cid couldn't believe it. "Four hours?" The enormity of it hit Highwind like a sledgehammer blow. "Thank you, Zexion."

He turned as Zexion exited and looked out onto the blackness. For a split second, Highwind could have sworn he saw a flash of silver…

* * *

Demyx stood amidst a crowd of uncertain passengers in all states of dress and undress. One first class woman was barefoot, others were in stockings, and the maitre of the restaurant was in top hat and overcoat. Some were still in evening dress, while some were in bathrobes and kimonos. Women were wearing lifebelts over velvet gowns, and some brought jewels, others books, even small dogs.

He watched as Cid walked stiffly toward him. He yelled into the Captain's ear, through cupped hands, over the roar of the steam, "Hadn't we better get the women and children into the boats, sir?"

Cid just nodded, a bit abstractly. The fire had gone out of him, and Demyx saw the truth in the Captain's face. He turned to the men. "Start the loading. Women and children!" The awful din of escaping steam abruptly cut off, leaving a sudden unearthly silence in which Demyx's voice echoed.

A man raised his violin to play. "Number twenty six." The band had reassembled just outside the first class entrance port side, near where Demyx called for the boats to be loaded. They started playing a waltz, lively and elegant. The music wafted all over the ship.

"Ladies, please. Step into the boat," Demyx yelled to them. One woman stepped across the gap and into the boat, terrified of the drop to the water far below.

An irritating woman raised her voice in anger at all the nonsense. "You watch. They'll put us off in these silly little boats to freeze, and we'll all be back on board by breakfast."

Kairi, Sora, and Yuffie came out of the doors near the band. "My brooch, I left my brooch. I must have it!" Yuffie complained. She turned back to go to her room, but Sora took her by the arm, refusing to let her go. The firmness of his hold surprised her.

"Stay here, Yuffie."

Yuffie studied his expression and knew fear for the first time.

* * *

It was chaos. Stewards pushed their way through narrow corridors clogged with people carrying suitcases, duffel bags, and children. Some had lifebelts on, others didn't.

"I told the stupid sods not to bring luggage. Oh, bloody hell!" one steward complained to another. He threw up his hand at the sight of a family, loaded down with cases and bags, completely blocking the corridor. Axel and Roxas pushed past them, going the other way until they reached a large crowd gathered at the bottom of the main third class stairwell. Roxas pushed up to where he could see what was stopping them. There was a steel gate across the top of the stairs with several stewards and seamen on the other side.

"Stay calm, please. It's not time to go up to the boats yet," one steward told the people. Near Roxas, a woman stood stoically with two small children and their battered luggage.

"What are we doing, mommy?" the little boy asked.

"We're just waiting, dear. When they finish putting first class people in the boats, they'll be starting with us, and we'll want to be all ready, won't we?"

* * *

Boat Seven was less than half full, with twenty-eight aboard a boat made for sixty-five. First Officer Pence shouted orders. "Lower away! The left and right together, steady lads!"

The boat lurched as the fall started to pay out through the pulley blocks. The women gasped as the boat descended, swaying and jerking, toward the water below. The passengers were terrified.

* * *

Inside the Master at Arms' office, Riku sat chained to the water pipe next to the porthole as Cloud sat on the edge of a desk. He put a bullet on the writing table and watched it roll across and fall. Swords don't roll, another reason they kick ass. "You know, I believe this ship may sink," Cloud said. He flipped the handcuff key in the air, caught it, and put it in his pocket. "You know, Sora really loved you."

Riku glared. "What?"

Cloud walked out the door, waving Riku a farewell. "He loved you. I'm sure he still does."

* * *

At the stairwell rail on the bridge wing, Fourth Officer Auron and Quartermaster Vincent Valentine lit the first distress rocket. It shot into the sky and exploded with a thunderclap over the ship, sending out white starbursts that lit up the entire deck as they fell.

The Managing Director of White Star Line, Seifer Almasy, cracked. Already at the breaking point from his immense guilt, the rockets panicked him. He started shouting at the officers struggling with the falls of Boat Five. "There is no time to waste!" he yelled, waving his arms. "Lower away! Lower away! Lower away!"

Fifth Officer Saïx, the youngest officer, looked up from the tangled falls at the madman. "Get out of the way, you fool!"

"Do you know who I am?" Seifer growled at the man.

Saïx, not having a clue nor caring, squared up to Almasy. "You're a passenger, and I'm the ship's bloody officer. Now do what you're told!" he yelled, turning away. "Steady men! Stand by the falls!"

"Yes, quite right. Sorry," Seifer said numbly, backing away.

* * *

Second Officer Demyx was in the middle of loading the boat nearest Kairi and Sora, Boat Six. He quickly sorted the people. "Women and children only! Sorry, sir, no men yet."

Another rocket burst overhead, lighting the crowd. Startled faces turned upward, fear now in the eyes. Sora watched the farewells taking place in front of him as they stepped closer to the boat. Husbands were saying goodbye to wives and children; lovers and friends parted. Nearby, Olette pushed a reluctant woman to board the boat. "Come on, you heard the man. Get in the boat, sister."

Yuffie looked around. "Will the lifeboats be seated according to class? I hope they're not too crowded."

Sora turned to her, his mouth agape in anger. "Oh, _shut up_!"

Yuffie froze, shockingly staring at the brunette.

"Don't you understand? The water is freezing and there aren't enough boats, not enough by half. Half the people on this ship are going to die."

Kairi smirked. "Definitely not the better half." She handed Demyx a few hundred bills. "I'm sure this will cover it."

Sora's face drained color as it hit him like a thunderbolt. Riku was third class. He didn't stand a chance. Another rocket burst overhead, bathing his face in white light as he glared at his fiancée. "You unimaginable bitch."

"Come on, Yuffie , get in the boat. These are the first class seats right up here. That's it." Olette practically handed her over to Demyx and then looked around for some other women who might need a push. Her eyes fell upon Sora, looking like a twelve-year-old boy or, possibly, a sixteen-year-old girl. "Come on, Sora. You're next, darling."

Sora stepped back, shaking his head.

"Sora, get in the boat!" Yuffie demanded.

"Goodbye, Yuffie."

Yuffie, standing in the tippy lifeboat, could do nothing. Kairi grabbed Sora's arm, but he pulled free and walked away through the crowd. She caught up to him and grabbed his arm again, this time roughly. "Where are you going? To him? Is that it? To be a man whore to that gutter rat?"

"I'd rather be his whore than your husband," the brunette said decidedly, staring into her enraged eyes. She clenched her jaw and squeezed his arm viciously, pulling him back toward the lifeboat. Sora turned her to face him and hawked back, spitting right on her face. Guess that spitting lesson _did_ have its benefits. Kairi let go with a curse, and he turned away as soon as she let his arm free, running into the crowd. Before she could react, she was pulled into the lifeboat as Demyx yelled for the boat to be lowered.

Kairi jumped back out and fell onto the deck, quickly standing up to run after Sora. "Kairi? _Kairi_!" Yuffie called after her, her voice quivering with fear.

Olette pat her on the back. "Stuff a sock in it, would you, Yuffie? She'll be along." The boat lurched downward as the falls were paid out.

* * *

Sora ran through the clusters of people. He looked back noticed a furious Kairi coming after him. He ran breathlessly up to two proper looking men, pulling on their sleeves. "That woman tried to take advantage of me in the crowd!"

Sora, looking like a twelve year old, pointed to her, the apparent molester. Appalled, the men turned to see the much older looking Kairi running toward them. Sora ran on as the two men lightly grabbed Kairi, restraining her, moving throughout the first class entrance. She, of course, broke free and ran after him, reaching the entrance only seconds after. However, as she moved through, she was stopped by a knot of people going the opposite way. Rudely, Kairi pushed through them and ran down to the landing, pushing past the gentlemen and women filling up the stairs. She scanned the foyer. Sora was gone.

* * *

The hull of Titanic loomed over Boat Six like a cliff. Its enormous mass was suddenly threatening to those in the tiny boat. Quartermaster Xigbar, at the tiller, wanted nothing but to get away from the ship. Unfortunately, his two seamen couldn't row. They flailed like a duck with a broken wing. "Keep pulling away from the ship," Xigbar told them, impatient. "Pull."

Olette was annoyed as well. "Haven't you boys ever rowed before? Here, give me those oars. I'll show you how it's done." She climbed over Yuffie to get to the oars, stepping on her feet. Around them, the evacuation was in full swing with boats in the water and others being lowered.

* * *

Riku pulled on the pipe with all his strength, although he knew it would not budge. He heard a gurgling sound and water poured under the door, spreading rapidly across the floor. "Shit!" He tried to pull one hand out of the cuffs, working until the skin was raw. It was no good. "Help! Somebody! Can anybody hear me?"

After a few moments of silence, his hope slowed down. "This could be bad."

The corridor outside was deserted, flooded a couple of inches deep. Riku's voice came faint through the door, but there was no one to hear it.

"I _knew_ I should've packed a sword…"

* * *

Leon Leonhart opened the stateroom doors, checking for anyone that might not be out. "Anyone in here?"

Sora ran up to him, breathless. "Mr. Leonhart, thank God! Where would the Master at Arms take someone under arrest?"

Leon grabbed his arm. "What? You have to get to a boat right away!"

"No! I'll do this with or without your help, sir, but without will take longer."

Leon's eyes grew soft, his jaw unclenched. "Alright. Take the elevator to the very bottom; go left, down the crewman's passage, then make a right."

Sora nodded. "Bottom, left, right. I have it."

Leon watched as the small brunette scurried away, looking around in confusion. "Hurry, Sora. Please," he said, almost to himself, smiling grimly.

* * *

Sora ran up as the last elevator operator was closing up his lift to leave. "Sorry, mister, lifts are closed," the man said, shaking his head.

Without thinking, Sora grabbed him and shoved him back into the lift. "I'm_ through_ with being polite, God damn it! I may never be polite again! You see how you have scarred me for life? It's your entirely fault! Now take me down!"

The operator fumbled to close the gate and started the lift.

* * *

Olette and the two seamen were rowing in their small boat. They had made it a hundred feet or so, enough to see that the ship was angled down into the water, with the bow rail less than ten feet above the surface. "Come on girls, join in, it'll keep you warm," Olette said cheerfully. "Let's go, Yuffie. Grab an oar."

Yuffie just stared at the spectacle of the great liner, its rows of lights blazing, slanting down into the sullen black mirror of the Atlantic.

* * *

Through the wrought iron door of the elevator car, Sora could see the decks going past. The lift slowed, and suddenly ice water was swirling around his legs. They both screamed in surprise. The car had landed in a foot of freezing water. The brunette, nevertheless, clawed the door open and splashed out. The lift went back up behind him as he looked around, the elevator operator frightened. "Left, crew passage," Sora said to himself, his eyes narrowed.

He spotted the crew passage and slogged down the flooded corridor. The place was understandably deserted, and he was on his own in the ghostly floor. "Right, right, right."

He turned into a cross-corridor, splashing down the hall, a row of doors on each side. "Riku?" Sora called, desperately waiting for a response. "Riku?"

Riku, meanwhile, was hopelessly pulling on the pipe again, straining until his wrist turned red. He collapsed back on the bench, realizing his defeat. Panting, he heard Sora through the door calling his name. Although certain that he was imagining it, Riku listened closer to the faint sound of his name that echoed in the halls.

"Sora! In here!"

In the hall, Sora heard the voice behind him. He spun and ran backward in the water, locating the right door. He pushed it open, creating a small wave. He splashed over to Riku and put his arms around him. "Riku, Riku, Riku. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"That Cloud guy put it in my pocket."

"I know. I know."

"He also felt me up."

"I know, I kn—wait, what?"

"I said, 'See if you can find a key for these. Try those drawers. It's a little brass one'."

Sora kissed his face and hugged him again, and turned to start to go through the desk.

"How did you find out I didn't do it?" Riku asked casually, ignoring the ankle-deep water around them.

"I didn't." Sora said, looking at Riku for a moment. "I just realized I already knew."

They shared a loving look, and then he went back to ransacking the room, searching drawers and cupboards. Riku noticed movement out the porthole and looked out. A lifeboat hit the surface of the water.

* * *

While the seamen detached the falls, Boat One rocked next to the hull. Selphie and Sir Xemnas sat with ten others in a boat made for four times that many. "I despise small boats," Selphie said to him, shaking her head. She noticed Riku's head in the window. "I just know I'm going to be seasick. I always get seasick in small boats. Good Heavens, there's a man down there."

Down below them, Sora stopped trashing the room and looked back at Riku, breathing hard. "There's no key in here." They looked around at the water, now almost two feet deep. Riku had pulled his feet up onto the bench.

"You have to go for help."

"I'll be right back," Sora said, nodding.

Riku smiled. "I'll just…wait here."

Sora ran out, looking back at him once more from the doorway, and then splashed away. Riku looked down at the swirling water. "Did I just trust him with my _life_? Oh, shit I am_ so_ screwed."

* * *


	8. Running for Help

**Disclaimer: **Sorry. We ran out of witty disclaimers from here on. You can probably sue us, but we wouldn't advise it.

* * *

Sora splashed down the hall to a stairwell going up to the next deck. He climbed the stairs, the weight of his wet wool jacket slowing him down. He ripped at the buttons and quickly moved out of it, letting it drop behind him on the steps. He turned at the top of the stairway and found himself in a long corridor, a labyrinth of steerage hallways. He was alone here as well, and a long groan of stressing metal echoed along the hall as the ship continued to settle. Frightened, he ran down the hall, unimpeded. "Hello? Somebody?"

He turned another corner and ran along another corridor in a daze. The hall sloped down into shimmering water that reflected the light. As the margin of the water crept toward him, a young man appeared, running through the water, sending up geysers of spray. He pelted past Sora without slowing, his eyes crazed.

"Help me! We need help!" Sora yelled, trying to stop him, but the man didn't look back. The hull gonged with terrifying sounds and the lights flickered, going out and leaving utter darkness. Sora pushed himself against a wall, stuck inside this bad dream. A moment later, the lights came back on, and he found himself hyperventilating.

A steward ran around the nearest corner, his arms full of lifebelts. He was upset to see someone still in his section and he grabbed Sora forcefully by the arm, pulling him with him like a wayward child. "Come on, then, let's get you topside, young man."

Sora tried pulling his arm away. "Wait. Wait! _I need your help_! There's—"

"No need for panic. Come along!"

"No, let me go! You're going the wrong way!" Sora screamed, trying to escape from his grasp. He shouted in his ear, and when the steward turned, Sora punched him squarely in the nose. Shocked, he let Sora go and staggered back.

"The Hell with you!"

"Wait! Please!"

The steward ran off, holding his bloody nose. Sora spit after him, just the way Riku taught him. Sora turned around and found a glass case with a fire-axe inside it. He quickly broke the glass with a battered suitcase lying discarded nearby and seized the axe, running back the way he came.

At the stairwell, the looked down and gasped. The water had flooded the bottom five steps, his coat slowly floating away. He went down and crouched to look along the corridor to the room where Riku was trapped. Sora plunged into the water waist-high and powered forward, holding 

the axe above his head with two hands. He grimaced at the pain from the freezing water. Riku had climbed up on the bench once again and was hugging the water pipe. Sora waded in, holding the axe above his head. "Will this work?" Sora asked, breathing heavily.

"It certainly isn't as cool as a sword, but we'll find out, won't we? Murphy's Law, don't fail me now!"

Sora lowered the axe. "But don't you want Murphy's Law to fail you?"

"You're right. Okay, Murphy's Law…don't not fail me not now of which I am… so confused. Do we really have time for this?"

"No. Okay! Time to choppity chop chop!"

They were both terrified, but trying to keep panic at bay. Riku positioned the chain connecting the two cuffs, stretching it taut across the steel pipe. The chain was of course very short, and his exposed wrists were on either side of it. Sora brought the ax up to whack at the metal, but Riku quickly stopped him.

"Whoa, whoa! Hold on! Try a couple practice swings."

Sora hefted the axe and threw it into a nearby wooden cabinet.

"Now try to hit the same mark again."

He swung hard and the blade hit four inches from the mark. Riku's eyes widened, horrified. "Okay, that's enough practice." He winced, bracing himself as Sora raised the axe. He had to hit a target about an inch wide with all the force he could muster, with his hands on either side. Riku tried to sound calm. "You can do it, Sora. Hit it as hard as you can. I trust you."

Riku closed his eyes as the axe came down. Sora's eyes also shut closed before impact,and he kept them closed until he heard Riku scream. He opened his eyes, expecting the worst, but noticed Riku smiling, holding his two hands far apart. Sora dropped the axe, all the strength going out of him. "Nice work, there, Paul Bunyan."

Sora sent a glare his way, but hugged him all the same. Riku, however unfortunate, had to cut the hug short. He climbed down into the water next to Sora, not able to breathe as the water hit his waist. "Shit! Excuse my French. That is freaking _cold_."

They waded out into the hall. Sora started toward the stairs going up, but Riku stopped him. There was only about a foot of the stairwell opening visible. "Great. Because we needed more drama, that is too deep. We have to find another way out."

* * *

In boat six, Yuffie looked back at the Titanic, transfixed by the sight of the dying liner. The bowsprit was now barely above the waterline. Another of Auron's rockets exploded overhead. It lit up the whole area, and half a dozen boats were in the water, spreading out from the ship. "Now_ there's_ something you don't see every day," Olette said, breathless.

Due to the confusion and the shiny objects in the sky, no one noticed an ominous figure appearing from absolutely nowhere and safely landing on the highest part of the boat. Maybe the people were stupid, or they were just too far away. Maybe no one noticed because people don't look for other flying people on a daily basis. Flying pigs? Yes. Flying people? Only if a cannon and promised pain are in order.

* * *

Steerage passengers moved along the widest passageway in the ship. It was used by crew and steerage alike and ran almost the length of the ship. A wooden doorframe suddenly splintered and the door burst open under the force of Riku's shoulder. The two lovers stumbled through into the corridor. A steward nearby, herding people along, marched over. "Here, you! You'll have to pay for that, you know. That's White Star Line property—"

Riku and Sora turned together. "_Shut up_!"

Riku led them past the dumbfounded steward, joining the steerage stragglers going aft. The corridor was almost completely blocked by large families carrying their luggage. Maybe it will float…

An Irish woman gave Sora a blanket, more for modesty than because he was blue-lipped and shivering, although no one wants to see a blue-lipped, shivering twelve year old. "Here, sir, cover yourself."

Riku rubbed Sora's arms to warm him as they walked along. Riku tried a number of doors and iron gates along the way, finding them all locked.

* * *

On the boat deck, the action had moved to the group of boats, numbers nine, eleven, fourteen and fifteen on the starboard side, and ten, twelve, fourteen and sixteen on the port side. The pace of work was more frantic that before; the crew and officers were running to work the davits, their previous complacency gone.

Kairi pushed through the crowd, looking around for her precious fiancée. All around her was chaos and confusion. A woman was calling for a child who had become separated in the crowd, a man was shouting over people's heads. A woman took hold of Second Officer Demyx's arm as he was about to launch Boat Ten. "Will you hold the boat a moment? I have to run back to my room for something."

Demyx grabbed her and shoved the woman into the boat just as Leon Leonhart rushed up to him, whispering furiously to him. "Why are the boats being launched half full?"

Demyx stepped past him, helping a seaman clear a snarled fall. "Not now, Mr. Leonhart."

Leon pointed to the water. "Look there. Twenty or so in a boat built for sixty five, and I saw one boat with only twelve._ Twelve_!"

"Well, we were not sure of the weight—"

"Rubbish! They were tested in Belfast with the weight of smen. Now fill these boats, for God's sake, man. Use some logic. The boat is sinking! If you over fill it, they die anyways! It's a lose–lose situation, and I demand to be entertained!"

Kairi watched as Cloud hurried toward her through the aisle connecting the port and starboard sides of the boat deck. "He's not on the starboard side either," the blonde reported, sighing.

"We're running out of time, and this strutting martinet…" She indicated Demyx "…isn't letting any men in at all. What are _you_ going to do?"

"The one on the other side is letting men in."

She nodded. "Then that's our play. But we're still going to need some insurance." She started off forward. "Come on." She charged off, followed by Cloud.

At the bow, the place where Riku and Sora first kissed, the railing went under water. The sea swirled around the capstans and windlasses on the deck. Cid strolled over to the bridge rail and looked down at the well deck. Two men ran across, their feet sending up spray. Behind Cid, Auron fired another rocket.

* * *

Axel, standing at the bottom of the crowd, heard Riku's voice.

"Axel! Axel!"

The redhead turned and watched as Riku and Sora pushed through the crowd. He and Riku hugged like brothers the moment there were enough. Only brothers, mind you, because any side-pairings might piss people off. "The boats are all going," Axel said into his ear.

Riku let go. "We got get up there or we're going be gargling saltwater. Where's Roxas?"

Axel pointed over the heads of the solidly packed crowd to the stairwell. Roxas had his hands on the bars of the steel gate that blocked the head of the stairway. "Women only. No men. No men!" a crewmen yelled, opening the gate to let a few women squeeze through. However, some terrified men, not understanding English, tried to rush through the gap, forcing the gate open. 

The crewmen and stewards pushed them back, shoving and punching them. "Get back! Get back you lot!" one yelled, looking at the crewmen. "Lock it!"

They struggled to get the gate closed again while the steward brandished a small revolver. Another held a fire axe as they locked the gate, and a cry went up among the crowd. A few men surged forward, pounding against the steel and shouting in several languages.

"For the love of God, man, there are children down here! Let us up, so we can have a chance!" Roxas yelled, pulling on the bars.

The crewmen, however, were too scared. Roxas growled and gave up, pushing his way back through the crowd and down the stairs. He rejoined Riku, Sora, and Axel, catching his breath. "It's hopeless that way," he said, running his fingers through his blonde spikes.

Riku looked down. "Well, whatever we're going to do, we better do it fast."

* * *

Kairi opened her safe and reached inside. As Cloud watched, she pulled out two stacks of bills, still banded by bank wrappers. She then took out the _Heart of the Ocean_, the ultimate shiny rock, putting it in the pocket of her overcoat, and locked the safe. She held up the money. "I make my own luck."

Cloud put the .45 in his waistband. "So do I."

Kairi grinned, placing the money in her pocket as they went out.

* * *

Sora, Riku, Axel, and Roxas were lost, helplessly looking for a way out. They pushed past confused passengers, past a mother changing her baby's diaper on top of an upturned steamer trunk, past a wailing child, and past another man with an English toArabic dictionary, trying to figure out what the signs meant while his wife and children waited patiently. They came upon a narrow stairwell and went up two decks before they were stopped again by a small group pressed against another steel gate. The steerage men were yelling at a scared steward. "Go to the main stairwell with everyone else," the steward said calmly. "It'll all get sorted out there."

Riku took one look at the scene. "Guys, I have a plan. Can't call it a smart one, though…"

Axel looked at him, then at the bench near him. "Oh! I get it!"

Roxas only looked confused, until he followed Axel's gaze toward the bench. The plan became blatantly obvious. There was a chance for freedom! Riku sighed. "Well, since we're all going to 

die, I have something to say. I've needed to tell someone. I've always wanted to be on… _Broadway_!"

People gave him incredulous glances before turning back to their depressing activities. Riku decided to cheer everyone up with a little song not actually invented at this point in time. He's special like that.

"_IF YOU WERE GAY  
THAT'D BE OKAY.  
I MEAN 'CAUSE, HEY,  
I'D LIKE YOU ANYWAY.  
BECAUSE YOU SEE,  
IF IT WERE ME,  
I WOULD FEEL FREE  
TO SAY THAT I WAS GAY!"_

Axel slapped him hard. "That was absolutely horrendous, you idiot! You've done it again! You are so damn weird! What we're supposed to do is lift up a bench that's _bolted_ to the floor and ram ourselves to freedom!"

"But it's…bolted. It's that kind of impossible?"

"You're humanly logic does not hinder me!" Axel grabbed one end of a bench and started pulling on it. The other two males pulled on the other end until it broke free from the floor. Sora cleared a path up the stairs between the waiting people, telling them to move aside.

Riku and Roxas ran up the steps with the bench and rammed it into the gate with all their strength. It ripped loose from its track and fell outward, narrowly missing the steward. Led by Riku, the crowd surged though.

* * *

Yuffie rowed with Olette Brown, two other women, and the incompetent sailors. She rested on her oars, exhausted, and looked back at the ship. It slanted down more into the water, still ablaze with light. Nothing was above water forward of the bridge except for the foremast. Another rocket went off, lighting up the entire area as a dozen boats moved outward from the ship. The ominous figure had disappeared again.

At the boat deck rail, Captain Highwind was shouting to Boat Six through a large metal megaphone. "Come back! Come back to the ship!" After a moment, he lowered his megaphone. The boats weren't coming back. He sighed. "The fools."

* * *

As Kairi and Cloud crossed the foyer, they encountered Hayner and his valet, both dressed in white ties, tail-coats, and top hats. Kairi stopped. "Hayner, what's the occasion?"

Hayner smiled. "We have dressed in our best and are prepared to go down like gentlemen."

"That's admirable, Hayner," she said, walking on. "I'll be sure and tell your wife when I get to New York."

Hayner raised his brow. "Hey, why are you still on this ship anyway? You're a woman, aren't you? Or did some employee lift up your dress and notice otherwise?"

Kairi sent him a death glare. "Excuse me, you damn idiot! For plot conveniences, I'm staying on this boat until I find out some clever way to get on a lifeboat. I will not play by the rules, damn it!"

"Why are you being so annoying and rebellious?"

"Because I can!" she growled, turning away.

* * *

Panic was setting in around the remaining boats. The crowd was now a mix of all three classes and officers repeatedly warned men back from the boats. The crowd pressed in closer. Demyx brandished the tiller of Boat Fourteen to discourage a close press of men that looked ready to rush the boat. Several men broke ranks and rushed forward.

Demyx pulled out his revolver and aimed it at them. "Get back! Keep order!"

The men backed down. Fifth Officer Saïx stood in the boat, yelling to the crew. "Lower away left and right!" Demyx turned away from the crowd and, out of their sight, broke his pistol open. Letting out a long breath, he started to load it. Who knew Demyx had it in him?

* * *

Kairi and Cloud arrived in time to see Pence lowering his last boat. "We're too late," Cloud said grimly.

Kairi grinned. "There are still some boats forward. I'll stay with this one, this Pence guy. He seems to be quite... _practical_." In the water below, there was another panic. Boat Thirteen, already in the water but still attached to its falls, was being pushed by the discharge water being pumped out of the ship. It wound up directly under Boat Fifteen coming down right on top of it. The passengers shouted in panic to the crew above to stop lowering, but they were ignored. Some men put their hands up, trying futilely to keep the five tons of Boat Fifteen from crushing them.

A stoker took out his knife and leaped to the after falls, climbing rudely over people. He cut the ropes while another crewman cut the forward lines. Boat Thirteen drifted out from beneath Fifteen just seconds before it touched the water with a slap.

Kairi, looking down from the rail, heard gunshots. Saïx, in Boat Fourteen, fired his gun as a warning to a group of men threatening to jump into the boat as it passed the open promenade on the deck. "Stay back!" he screamed with another fire from his gun.

The shots echoed away.

"It's starting to fall apart," Kairi said quietly. "We don't have much time."

Kairi watched three dogs run by, including the unsightly black French bulldog, for someone had released the pets from the kennels. She saw Pence turn from Boat Fifteen and start walking toward the bow. She caught up and fell in beside him.

"Pence, I'm a businesswoman, as you know, and I have a business proposition for you."

* * *

Riku, Sora, Roxas, and Axel burst out onto the boat deck from the crew stairs just before the third funnel. They quickly looked at the empty davits. "The boats are gone!" Sora gasped.

Axel rolled his eyes. "Gosh, Sora. How _ever_ did you figure that out?"

Sora noticed Merlin chugging forward along the deck, escorting two first class ladies. "Merlin! Are there any boats left?"

Merlin stared at Sora's bedraggled state. "Yes, there are still a couple of boats all the way forward. This way, I'll lead you!"

Riku grabbed Sora's hand and they sprinted past Merlin with Axel and Roxas close behind. The band was, incredibly, still playing. Roxas looked annoyed as he ran past them. "Music to drown by. Now I _know_ I'm in first class." Damn straight they have music to drown to. If they have luggage to carry to their deaths, they have music. It's obvious math.

* * *

Water poured like a spillway over the forward railing on the B Deck. The crowd was sparse, with most people still on the back of the ship. Pence and his team continued to load the collapsible row boats. Kairi slipped her hand out of the pocket of her overcoat and into the waist pocket of Pence's coat, leaving the stacks of bills there. Kairi put on her 'trying to be pretty, but can't seem to pull it off' creepy smile. "So we have an understanding then?"

Pence stared at her, puzzled. "You don't have to give me money. You're a woman and there are still a few boats left for you, but whatever you say, miss."

Kairi narrowed her eyes. "I'm rebelling! Can't you see this? If I just went on the boat without some sort of drama, that would be super boring!" Kairi, satisfied, stepped back. She found herself waiting next to Seifer Almasy. Seifer didn't meet her eyes, nor anyone's.

Cloud came up behind her. "I've found him. He's just over on the port side. With _him_."

Pence loaded the boat. "Women and children? Any more women and children?" he yelled, glancing at Kairi. "Anyone else?"

Kairi looked longingly at her boat. Her moment had arrived, but she let it go. "God damn it to hell! Come on." She and Cloud headed for the port side, taking a short-cut through the bridge. Seifer Almasy, seeing his opportunity, stepped quickly into Collapsible C, staring straight ahead, not meeting Pence's eyes.

Pence stared at Almasy. He raised his arms and slowly brought them down, signaling the crew. "Take them down."

* * *

On the port side, Demyx was helped people into Boat Two, keeping his pistol in his hand. Twenty feet below them, the sea poured into the doors and windows of B deck staterooms. He could hear the roar of water cascading into the ship.

"Women and children, please! Women and children _only_! Step back, sir."

Even with Riku's arms wrapped around him, Sora shivered in the cold. Near him, a woman with two young daughters looked into the eyes of her husband she knew she might not see again. "It's only goodbye for a little while. Only for a little while," the man said to his girls. "Go with Mommy." The woman stumbled to the boat with the children, hiding her tears from them. Beneath the false good cheer, the man was choked with emotion. "Hold Mommy's hand and be a good girl."

Some of the women were stoic; others were overwhelmed by emotion and had to be helped into the boats. A man scribbled a note and handed it to a woman who was about to board.  
"Please get this to my wife in De Moines, Iowa."

Riku saw this and turned to Axel and Roxas. "You better check out the other side."

They nodded and ran off, searching for a way around the deckhouse. Sora squeezed him, staring up into his eyes. "I'm not going without you."

Riku looked down on him, serious more than ever. "Get in the boat, Sora."

Cue dramatic music as Kairi walked up. "Yes. Get in the boat with me, Sora. You can pull off the whole kid thing."

Sora jumped, stepping instinctively to Riku. Kairi looked at him, standing there shivering in his wet black suit, a shocking display in 1912. His spikes still seemed to defy laws.

"Quickly, ladies and children, step into the boat. _Hurry, _please!" Demyx called.

"Please go on. I'll get the next one," Riku pleaded, pushing Sora over to the boat.

Sora held onto his lover like Riku was his source of life. "No. _Not without you_!"

He forgot Kairi standing beside them. Hey, who wouldn't? She saw the emotion between them and her jaw clenched. She leaned close to him and whispered, "There are boats on the other side that are allowing men in. Riku can get off safely."

Riku smiled reassuringly. "You see, Sora? I'll be alright. Hurry up so I can get going. I've got my own boat to catch."

Kairi walked over to the boat. "Get in. Hurry up, it's almost full." Demyx grabbed Sora's arm and pulled him toward the boat. He reached out for Riku and their fingers brushed against each other's for a moment. He found himself stepping down into the boat regardless, all a rush and blur.

Kairi leaned over to Riku before stepping in. "You're a good liar."

Riku stilled stared at Sora. "Almost as good as you."

"I always win, Riku. One way or another," she said, smiling. "Pity I didn't keep that drawing. It's going to be worth a lot more by morning." She quickly sat down next to Sora.

"Lower away!" Demyx shouted. Riku watched at the rail as the boat began to descend. He looked down at Sora, knowing full well there wasn't a boat on the other side. The ropes were going through the pulleys as the seamen started to lower. All sound went away from Sora's ears. The brunette watched Demyx giving orders, his lips moving, but Sora heard only the blood pounding in his ears. A rocket burst above, outlining Riku in a halo of light. Sora's hair blew as he gazed up at Riku, descending away from him. He noticed Riku's hand trembling, the tears at the corners of his eyes, and couldn't believe the unbearable pain he was feeling.

Tears poured down his face as Kairi put her coat over him. This couldn't be happening. He looked around, watching the women around him waving at the others above and sobbing in the cold. This was the worst farewell in history to Sora; every agonizing slow second, he descended further away from the man he loved.

He suddenly lunged across Kairi. He reached the gunwale, climbing it and hurling himself out of the boat to the rail of the A-Deck promenade. Despite the others yelling at him and pulling him back, he caught it and scrambled over the rail, now back on the ship.

"No, Sora!" Riku spun from the rail, running for the nearest way down to A-Deck.

Kairi followed Sora to the rail and climbed back on. Sora was willing to die for this man, this gutter scum. She was overwhelmed by a rage so consuming, it eclipsed all thought. That was a waste of two seats.

* * *

At the grand staircase, Riku rushed through the doors to the foyer and sprinted down the stairs. Sora's long coat flying out behind him as he ran, he hurried across the foyer. They met at the bottom of the stairs and collided in an embrace.

"Sora, Sora, you're so stupid, you're such an idiot!" Riku scolded him, and all the while, Riku was kissing him and holding him as tight as he could.

Sora smiled. "You jump, I jump, right?"

"No, it was 'you _jump_, I _laugh',_ remember?"

Kairi came in and ran to the railing. Looking down, she saw them locked in their embrace. Cloud came up from behind and put a restraining hand on her, but Kairi whipped around, grabbing the pistol from Cloud's waistband in one cobra-fast move. She ran along the rail and down the stairs, and as she reached the landing above them, she raised the gun. Screaming in rage, she fired. The carved cherub at the foot of the center railing exploded. Riku pulled Sora toward the stairs going down to the next deck. She fired again, running down the steps toward them. A bullet blew into the oak paneling behind Riku's head as he pulled Sora down the next flight of stairs.

Kairi stepped on the skittering head of the cherub statue and went sprawling on the floor. The gun clattered across the marble floor. She stood up, and reeling drunkenly, went over to retrieve it.

The bottom of the grand staircase was flooded several feet deep in water. Riku and Sora came down the stairs two at a time and ran straight into the water, fording across the room to where the floor sloped up until they reached dry footing at the entrance to the dining saloon. Kairi reeled down the stairs in time to see Riku and Sora splashing through the water toward the dining saloon. She fired twice. Large gouts sprayed near them, but she wasn't a great shot. That's painfully obvious.

The water boiled up around her feet and she retreated up the stairs a couple of steps. Around her the wood work groaned and creaked. "Enjoy your time together!"

She began to laugh as Cloud came up beside her. "What could possibly be funny?"

"I put the diamond in my coat pocket. And I put my coat _on him._" She turned to Cloud with a sickly expression, her eyes glittering. "I'll give it to you if you can get it."

She handed Cloud the pistol and went back up the stairs. Cloud thought about it for a minute or two, wondering if he would see Leon on the way, then slogged into the water. The ice water was up to his waist as he crossed the pool into the dining saloon.

* * *

Cloud moved among the tables and ornate columns, searching, listening, his eyes tracking rapidly. It was a sea of tables. A silver serving trolley rolled downhill, bumping into tables and pillars. He glanced over his shoulder. The water was following him into the room, advancing in a hundred foot wide tide. The reception room was now a lake, and the grand staircase was submerged past the first landing. Monstrous groans echoed through the ship.

Riku and Sora, crouched behind a table, were somewhere in the middle. They saw the water advancing toward them, swirling over the floor, and they crawled ahead of it to the next row of tables. "Stay here," Riku whispered, moving away. Cloud rushed over one row and looked along the tables. Nothing. The ship groaned and creaked. He moved to another row.

The metal cart with five feet tall and full of stacks of china dishes started to roll down the aisle between tables. It hit a table and the stacks of dishes toppled out, exploding across the floor and showering the brunette. Sora scrambled out of the way and Cloud spun, seeing him. He moved rapidly toward him, keeping the gun aimed.

Riku tackled him from the side. They slammed together into a table, crashing over it, and toppling to the floor. They landed in the water flowing rapidly between the tables. Riku and Cloud grappled in the icy water in a battle of the ultimate sexyness. Riku jammed his knee down on Cloud's hand, breaking his grip on the pistol, and he kicked it away. Cloud scrambled up and lunged at him, but Riku gut punched him right in the stomach, doubling him over. He grabbed Cloud and threw the blonde into an ornate column. Cloud dropped to the floor with a splash, stunned. He apparently was nothing without his sword…

"Let's go." Riku and Sora ran uphill, entering the galley. Behind them, the tables had become islands in a lake, and the far end of the room was flooded up to the ceiling.

Cloud stood up and looked around for his gun. He pulled it up out of the water and waded after them.

* * *

They ran through the galley and Sora spotted the stairs. He started up and Riku grabbed his hand, leading them down. They crouched together on the landing as Cloud ran to the stairs. Assuming they had gone up, he climbed up them two at a time. The two males below waited for the footstep to recede. After long creaking groan, they heard a crying child… _below _them. They went down a few steps to look along the next deck.

The corridor was awash, about a foot deep. Standing against the wall, about fifty feet away, was a little boy, about three-years-old. The water swirled around his legs as he wailed. Sora faced his love, "We can't leave him."

Riku nodded and they left the promise of escape up the stairwell to run to the child. Riku scooped the kid up in arms and they ran back to the stairs, but a torrent of water came pouring down the steps like rapids. In seconds, it was too powerful for them and Riku looked around for another exit. "Come on!"

Charging the other way down the flooding corridor, they blasted up spray with each footstep. At the end of the hall, there were heavy double doors. As Riku approached them, he noticed water spraying through the gap between the doors right up to the ceiling. The doors groaned and started to crack under the tons of pressure. He pointed the other way. "Back! Go back!"

Sora pivoted and ran back the way they came, taking a turn into a cross-corridor as a man was coming the other way. He saw the boy in Riku's arms and cried out, grabbing the child away from him. He started cursing Riku in Russian and he ran on with the boy.

"No! Not that way! Come back!" Sora yelled after him.

The double doors blasted open, and a wall of water thundered into the corridor. The father and child disappeared under the wave instantly. Riku and Sora ran as a wave rushed around the corner, foaming from the floor to the ceiling. It gained on them like a locomotive and they made it to a stairway going up. Riku and Sora pounded up the stepped as white water swirled up behind them. A steel gate blocked the top of the stairs. Riku slammed against it, gripping the bars.

A terrified steward standing guard on the landing above turned to run at the sight of the water thundering up the stairs. Riku grabbed for the man between the bars. "Wait! Wait! Help us! Unlock the gate."

The steward ran on. The water welled up around Riku and Sora, pouring through the gate and slamming them against it. In seconds, it was up to their waist. "Help us! _Please_!" Sora pleaded.

The steward stopped and looked back. He saw Riku and Sora at the gate, their arms reaching through, and looked down to see the water pouring through the gate onto the landing. Hesitantly, he ran back, slogging against the curtain. He pulled a key ring from his belt and struggled to unlock the padlock as the water swirled up around them. The lights shorted out and the landing was plunged into darkness.

"Come on! Come on!" Riku rushed, holding onto the bars. The man was shaking so much that the keys fell down into the dark water.

The man's lips quivered, staring down at the water, broad-eyed. "I… I've dropped them," he whispered, looking up at the two boys. He turned and scrambled up the stairs.

"Riku! Get the keys!" Sora yelled. Riku did as he was told and dove under the rising water. His hands quickly brushed against the floor, groping the area. He felt the cold keys on his fingers, and he grabbed them, creating a big splash as he rose to the surface. The water was now well over the lock and he had to unlock it by feel.

"Riku! _Hurry,_" Sora screamed, fearing for his life. They were right up against the ceiling and suddenly, the gate gave and swung open. They were pushed through by the force of the water, thrown on the stairs on the other side of the landing. Riku grabbed Sora by the hand and followed the steward up the steps.

* * *

Kairi came reeling out of the first class entrance, looking wild-eyed. She lurched down the deck toward the bridge as waltz music wafted over the ship. Somewhere, the band was still playing. A small girl, maybe three years old, was crying along in the alcove. She looked up at Kairi beseechingly, but Kairi moved on without a glance.

She continued to walk, finally reaching a large crowd clustered around Collapsible A, just before the bridge. She watched Pence and a number of crewmen struggling to drag the boat to the davits with no luck. Kairi pushed forward, trying to signal Pence, but the officer ignored him. Nearby, Roxas and Axel were being pushed forward by the crowd behind. Another man pushed them back, getting a couple of seamen to help him. He brandished his gun, waving it in the air, yelling for the crowd to stay back.

* * *

Demyx, with a group of crew and passengers, tried to get Collapsible B down from the roof. They slid it down a pair of oars leaned against the deck house. "Hold it! _Hold it_!" The weight of the boat snapped the oars and it crashed to the deck, upside down. Two men jumped back as the boat nearly hit them.

* * *

Pence, at Collapsible A, was no longer in control. The crowd was threatening to rush into the boat. They pushed and jostled, yelling and shouting at the officers. The pressure from behind pushed them forward, and one guy fell off the edge of the deck into the water less than ten feet below. "Give us a chance to live, you limey bastards!" Roxas yelled to them, gripping Axel's hand. And the word 'limey,' Axel conjured up perverted thoughts, smiling happily despite the current situation.

Pence fired his pistol twice in the air, and then pointed it at the crowd. "I'll shoot any man who tries to get past me!"

Kairi stepped up to him. "We had a deal, damn you!"

Pence pushed her back, pointing the pistol at her face. "_Get back_!"

A man next to Roxas rushed forward, and Roxas was shoved from behind. Pence Murdoch shot the first man, and seeing Roxas coming forward, put a bullet into his chest with a loud _bang _from the fire arm.

"Roxas!"

The blonde collapsed, and Axel grabbed him, holding him in his arms as Roxas' life flowed out over the deck.

"Roxas… no… please don't die. _Please_." Axel pleaded, rocking the body back and forth. Tears streamed down his face. Cue fan girl cries of either joy or... not joy.

Pence turned to his men and saluted smartly. He then put the pistol to his temple and fired. He dropped like a puppet with the strings cut and toppled over the edge of the boat deck into the water only a few feet below. Kairi stared in horror at his body bobbing in the black water. The money floated out of the pocket of Pence's greatcoat, the bills spreading across the surface.

The crew rushed to get the last few women aboard the boat. An officer yelled above the confusion. "Any more women or children? You, miss, come here!" He pointed to Kairi, who quickly turned around. She went back to the crying girl in the alcove. She scooped her up and ran forward, cradling the girl in her arms and forcing her way through the crowd. "Here's a child! I've got a child!"

The officer nodded curtly and pushed them into the boat. He spun with his gun, brandishing it in the air to keep the other men back. Kairi stepped into the boat, holding the little girl. She took a seat with the other women. "There, there," she said, rubbing the girl's back. She then adamantly 'dropped' the little girl over the side. You aren't truly evil until you've killed a child, a puppy, or a bishie. So now, we can happily say, Kairi is evil. Or not-happily. Depends if you're a fan or not.

* * *

Aerith Gainsborough walked along a deck innocently. She hadn't gotten on a boat yet, being generous, and gave her seat to another young woman. Aerith noticed that there was a general lack of people in her general area. Plots were made to be convenienced. She quickly looked over the ocean, noticing the lifeboats of the saved people. She got on her knees and began to pray for their safety.

At this point, the "deja-vu irony" senses are going haywire.

Aerith, lost in her prayer, didn't notice the shadow looming above her. Or the evil laugh. Or the flash of a ridiculously long sword against the light.

The ominous figure that has been mentioned previously, that is now revealed as Sephiroth, stared mercilessly into the back of Aerith's head. Sword in hand, he jumped his perch above, readying his sword.

Aerith remained oblivious.

Sephiroth remained gliding downwards gracefully.

Aerith remained oblivious...still.

Sephiroth seemed to defy gravity as he managed to stay in the air for such an elongated amount of time.

Aerith stood up, smoothing out her dress. She quickly walked back to where she came from, still not realizing the assassination attempt on her life.

Sephiroth's Masamune impaled the floor of where Aerith's stomach should have been.

"Damn it…"

* * *


	9. Fires, Explosions, and Sparks

**Author's Note:** Yeah, pretty much from this chapter on, this story becomes an epic bishie killing spree. Our bad.

* * *

Leon Leonhart stood in front of the fireplace, staring at the large painting above the mantle. The room was empty, and an ashtray fell off the table. Behind him, Riku and Sora ran in, out of breath and soaked. They continued through toward the revolving door. The brunette saw that his lifebelt was off, lying on a table. Sora stopped, his hand within Riku's dragging him back. He asked, sadly, "Won't you even try to make it, Mr. Leonhart?"

Leon turned his head slightly, a tear rolling down his cheek. "I'm sorry that I didn't build you a stronger ship, young Sora."

Riku tugged on Sora's coat. "It's going fast. We've got to keep moving."

Leon picked up his useless lifebelt and handed it to the young brunette. "Good luck to you, Sora."

Sora took the lifebelt and hugged him. "And to you, Mr. Leonhart." Riku pulled him away and they ran through the revolving door. Well, _Riku_ ran through the revolving door, but Sora ran _into_ it, his coat getting stuck, resulting in a very dizzy Sora.

* * *

The band finished the waltz. The band leader looked at the orchestra members. "Right, that's it then."

They left him, walking forward along the deck. He put his violin to his chin and bowed the first notes of the orchestrated version of 'Passion.' One by one, the band members turned, hearing the lonely melody. Without a word, they walked back and took their places. They joined in with him, filling out the sound so that it reached all over the ship on the still night.

A seaman pulled off his lifebelt and caught up to Captain Cid as he walked to the bridge. He held it out, but Cid seemed to stare through him. Without a word, the captain turned and went onto the bridge. He entered the enclosed wheelhouse and closed the door, all alone and surrounded by the gleaming brass instruments. He seemed to inwardly collapse.

* * *

In the first class smoking room, Leon stood like a statue. He pulled out his pocket watch and checked the time. He opened the face of the mantle clock and adjusted it to the correct time: 2:12 a.m. Everything had to be perfect. If you know you're going to die, make it classy.

Behind him, a quiet figure stood. Leon, hearing the breathing behind him, turned to see the comforting blonde, Cloud, staring at him dreamily. In a mere second, they were in each other's arms, Leon pushed against the fireplace mantle. He grunted at the impact, his wrists locked in place by the blonde's controlling hands. Their lips mashed together roughly, their mouths pressed perfectly together. Leon tensed, shaking Cloud's grip to cling desperately to him. Eyes closed, their hands wandered over each other's clothes, shameless as their fingers slithered under articles of clothing and onto bare skin.

Cloud pulled Leon around, their lips still firm, their kiss still unbreakable, and pushed him down onto a close table, bent over the brunette and standing between his legs. This particular room was seemingly soundproof, and the groans of the two went unnoticed by the intense chaos happening outside the doors.

Cloud pulled back and broke the kiss, holding Leon's head between his hands. "I'm staying with you," he whispered, planting one last peck on the brunette's lips.

This was so sudden.

Leon looked at Cloud.

Cloud looked at Leon.

Leon stared deeply into Cloud's eyes.

"Do I know you?"

Cloud sighed. "That dinner, you were eyeing me, and then you totally spilled something on me!"

"Maybe I'm just clumsy?"

Cloud looked ready to cry, out of character, even for _this_ fanfiction. "But you're so… _HOT_!" And thus began Cloud and Leon's Yaoi Adventure. The authoresses claim that, in a time of death, two grown men can revert to teenage girl behavior. If you look for something to blame it on, blame the media, Courtney Love, the French, KFed and/or the paparazzi. Please enjoy the rest of your reading.

* * *

In Sora's parlor suite, water swirled in from the private promenade deck. Sora's paintings were submerged. The Picasso transformed under the water's surface. Degas' colors ran. Monet's water lilies came to life. However, the Flying Spaghetti Monster didn't. It was so symbolic that the symbolism couldn't be found.

Two figures lying side by side; fully clothed, on a bed in a first class cabin. An elderly couple stared at the ceiling, holding hands like young lovers. Water poured into the room through a doorway and it swirled around the bed, two feet deep and rising fast. Had they not broken their hips earlier while trying to dance, maybe they could have escaped.

In a steerage cabin somewhere in the bowels of the ship, the young mother, seen earlier stoically waiting at the stairs, was tucking her two young children into bed. She pulled up the covers, making sure they were all warm and cozy. She sat down with them on the bed, speaking soothingly and holding them. They have no excuse but laziness to blame their inevitable deaths.

On the port side, Collapsible B was picked up by water. Working frantically, the men tried to detach it from the falls so the ship wouldn't drag it under. Merlin handed Demyx a pocket knife and he sawed furiously at the ropes as the water swirled around his legs. The boat, still upside down, was swept off the ship. Men began to dive in, swimming to stay with it.

In the Collapsible A, Kairi sat next to the empty seat that _was_ the wailing child, whom she had completely forgotten. She watched the water rising around the men as they worked, scrambling to get the ropes cut so the ship wouldn't drag the collapsible under.

Axel removed the bloody lifebelt from Roxas' body and struggled to put it on as the water rose around him. The blonde's lifeless blue eyes stared up at Axel with guilt.

Captain Highwind, standing near the wheel, watched the black water climbing the windows of the enclosed wheelhouse. He had the stricken expression of a damned soul, waiting for his drop toward Hell. The windows burst suddenly and a wall of water edged with shards of glass slammed into him, disappearing in a vortex of foam.

Actually, that's not true. His foot was sticking out of the water a second later. And if someone had been close enough to listen, they would have sworn they heard "I've changed my mind! GET ME OFF THIS DAMNED SHIP!" … but it remains unconfirmed.

Collapsible A was hit by a wave as the bow plunged suddenly. It partially swamped the boat, washing it along the deck. Over a hundred passengers were plunged into the freezing water and the area around the ship became a frenzy of splashing, screaming people. As men tried to climb into the collapsible, Kairi grabbed an oar and pushed them back into the water. "Get back! You'll swamp us!"

Axel, swimming for his life, was caught under a davit. The ropes and pulleys tangled around him as the davit went under the water, and he was dragged down. He struggled to free himself and then kicked back to the surface. When he surfaced, he gasped for air in the freezing water and continued swimming.

A member of the band watched the water rolling rapidly up the deck toward them. He held the last note of the hymn and then lowered his violin. "Gentlemen, it has been a privilege playing with you tonight."

Wow. I give this death a 9. Classy and dramatic, but a tad bit pointless.

* * *

Riku and Sora ran out of the Palm Court and into a dense crowd. Riku pushed his way to the rail and examined the state of the ship. The bridge was under water and there was confusion on deck. As Riku helped Sora put his lifebelt on, Countess Aerith happily skipped along past them with an ominous shadow looming over her, although no one cared. People streamed around her and around Riku and Sora, shouting and pushing; in short, there was a lot of people, a lot of noise, and little room—claustrophobic's nightmare.

"Okay, I've got an ingenious plan! We keep moving toward the back of the boat. We have to stay on the ship as long as possible."

"No, duh, dumbass," Sora said, rolling his eyes as they pushed their way through the panicking crowd. Had Sora _stayed _on his lifeboat, he wouldn't be in this situation. No one listens to the narrator, though.

* * *

Collapsible A whirled like a leaf in the currents around the sinking ship. It slammed against the side of the forward funnel. Kairi yelled at the crew. "Row! Row, you bastards!"

Nearby, Axel was drawn up against the grating of a stokehold vent as water poured through it. The force of tons of water roaring down the ship trapped him against it, and he was dragged down under the surface as the ship sunk. He struggled to free himself. Suddenly, there was a concussion deep in the bowels of the ship as a furnace exploded, and a blast of hot air belched out of the ventilator, ejecting Axel. He surfaced in a roar of foam and kept swimming. It cannot be determined if this is lucky or not.

* * *

Riku and Sora clambered over the A-Deck rail. Using all his sexy strength, Riku lowered Sora toward the deck below, holding on with one hand. Sora dangled and soon fell, with Riku jumping down behind him. They joined a crush of people literally clawing and scrambling over each other to get down the narrow stairs to the well deck, the only way above water. Seeing that the stairs were impossible, Riku climbed over the B-Deck railing and helped Sora over. He lowered the younger male again, Sora fell in a heap, and he dropped down behind him. Hauling Sora to his feet, they quickly pushed through the crowd across the deck. At the rail nearest to them, people were jumping into the water.

The ship groaned and shuddered. The man ahead of Riku walked like a zombie, mumbling to himself. "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death—"

Riku kept pushing, pulling the brunette along. "You want to walk a little faster to that valley?"

* * *

The stay cables along the top of the funnel snapped, and they lashed like steel whips down into the water. Kairi watched in horror as the funnel toppled from its mounts. Falling like a temple pillar twenty eight feet across, it crashed into the water with a tremendous splash. People swimming underneath it disappeared in an instant, their screams still echoing across the ocean. Axel, a few feet away, was hurled back by a huge wave. He surfaced, gasping, but still determinedly swimming. The water pouring into the open end of the funnel drew in several swimmers. The funnel sunk, disappearing, but hundreds of tons of water poured down through the 30 foot hole where the funnel stood, thundering down into the belly of the ship. A whirlpool formed, a hole in the ocean, like an enormous toilet-flush. The gym instructor swam in a frenzy as the vortex drew him in, sucking him down like a spider going down a drain. Sue remains M.I.A.

Axel, nearby, swam vigorously as more people were sucked down behind him. He managed to get clear of the whirlpool's pull, going to live no matter what it took. Oh, the irony.

* * *

Water roared through the doors and windows, cascading down the stairs like rapids. Wakka was swept down the marble steps to the already flooded A-Deck, a roiling vortex. He grabbed the headless cherub at the bottom of the staircase and wrapped his arms around it.

Wakka looked up in time to see the thirty-foot glass dome overhead explode inward with the wave of water washing over it. A Niagara of sea water thundered down into the room, blasting through the first class opulence. It was the Armageddon of elegance. Isn't that a pretty way to say it brought death and destruction?

* * *

Below decks, the flooding was horrific. Walls and doors were splintered like kindling. Water roared down corridors with pile-driver force. The Cartmell Family was at the top of a stairwell, jammed against a locked gate. Water boiled up the stairwell behind them. Mr. Cartmell shook the gate futilely, shouting for help. Little Naminé wailed.

Her father picked her up gently. "It's okay, honey. We're not going to drown"

Naminé looked up at her father "Oh my god, I'm going to _drown?"_

Her father sighed as they were submerged.

* * *

Sora and Riku struggled to climb the well deck stairs as the ship tilted. A drunken man put a hand squarely on Sora's butt and shoved him up onto the deck. "Sorry, man!" Hundreds of people were already on the poop deck, with more pouring up every second. Sora and Riku clung together as they struggled across the tilting deck.

As the bow went down, the stern rose. In Boat Two, passengers gaped as the giant bronze propellers rose out of the water like gods of the deep. People jumped from the well deck, the poop deck, and the gangway doors. Some hit debris in the water and were hurt or killed.

On the poop deck—

"Ha, Riku! We're on the _poop deck,_" Sora laughed, elbowing his lover in the stomach. Riku glared harder.

Ahem. On the poop deck, Riku and Sora struggled to move forward as the angle increased beneath their feet. Hundreds of passengers, clinging to every fixed object on deck, huddled on their knees around Father Seaman, his voice raised in prayer. They were praying, sobbing, or just staring at nothing, their minds blank with dread.

Pulling himself from handhold to handhold, Riku tugged Sora along the deck, who was curiously staring at the Father. "Come on, Sora," Riku told him, noticing the brunette staring. "We can't expect God to do all the work for us." They continued, pushing through the praying people. A man lost his footing ahead and slid toward them. Riku helped him, and they continued on. This is funny. You know why? Because technically, Riku is the 'Evil guy Who Sora Cheated _With'_, not _on_. Kairi is more in the right, in a moral literal sense. However, she is portrayed so evilly, and Riku so godly, that people often overlook this tiny detail. Carry on!

The propellers were twenty feet above the water and rising faster.

Sora and Riku made it to the stern rail, right at the base of the flagpole. They gripped the rail, jammed in between other people. It was the spot where Riku pulled Sora back onto the ship, just two nights and a lifetime ago. Yes. That does make sense. Don't think about it.

Above the wailing and sobbing, Father Seaman's voice carried, cracking with emotion. "...and I saw new heavens and a new earth. The former heavens and the former earth had passed away and the sea was no longer."

The lights flickered, threatening to go out. Sora held onto Riku tightly as the stern rose into a night sky ablaze with stars.

"I also saw a new Jerusalem, the holy city coming down out of heaven from God, beautiful as a bride prepared to meet her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne ring out this is God's dwelling among men. He shall dwell with them and they shall be his people and He shall be their God who is always with them."

Sora stared about him at the faces of the doomed. Father Seaman continued. "He shall wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, crying out or pain, for the former world has passed away."

As the ship tilted further, everything not bolted down inside shifted. Cupboards burst open in the pantry, showering the floor with expensive china. A piano slid across the floor, crashing into a wall. Furniture tumbled across the smoking room floor.

On the A-Deck promenade, passengers lost their grip and slid down the wooden deck hundreds of feet before they hit the water. Marlene, Kairi's maid, slipped as she struggled along the railing and slid away screaming. At the stern, the propellers were a hundred feet out of the water and rising. Panicking people leapt from the poop deck rail, falling, screaming, and hitting the water like small rocks. A man fell from the deck, hitting the bronze hub of the starboard propeller with a sickening smack.

Swimmers looked up and saw the stern towering over them like a monolith, the propellers rising against the stars, now over a hundred feet above their heads. Yuffie, in Boat Six, saw the spectacle of the Titanic, her lights blazing, reflecting in the still water. Its stern was high in the air, angles up over forty five degrees, and the propellers were a hundred and fifty feet out of the water. Over a thousand passengers clung to the decks, looking from a distance like a swarm of bees.

The image was shocking, unbelievable, and unthinkable. Yuffie stared at the spectacle, unable to frame it or put it into any proportion. The great liner's lights flickered.

A random Masamune impaled Yuffie through the head.

"You're not Aerith. Oops…"

Olette casually threw her body overboard. "Tra la la."

* * *

In darkness, Chief Engineer Marluxia hung onto a pipe. Around him, men climbed through tilted cyclopean machines with electric hand-torches. It was a black hell of breaking pipes, spraying water, and groaning machinery threatening to tear right out of its bedplates. Water sprayed down, hitting the breaker panel, but Marluxia would not leave his post. The breakers suddenly kicked. He slammed them in again and a blast of light erupted from them. Something melted and arcing filled the engine room with nightmarish light.

The lights went out all over the ship. Titanic became a vast black silhouette against the stars. In Collapsible C, Seifer Almasy had his back to the ship, unable to watch the great steamer die. He was catatonic with remorse, his mind overloaded. He could avert his eyes, but he couldn't block out the sounds of dying people and machinery.

Aerith, still in her own little world, walked very calmly along the deck. She looked to her left, staring out at the black sea before her. About ten feet away from her, a moogle floated above the water. What a moogle was doing there, we may never know. The ahead of its time digital camera, which may give you a clue, was blinding Aerith with its flashes. Who knew moogles could time travel?

Her eyes grew wide. "Shiny…" She leaned over the rail, trying to grab for this shiny moogle. The ominous figure loomed over head, his eyes stuck on his prey. Sephiroth glided down closer, holding his sword out for his last attack.

She, however, leaned _too_ far over the railing and…oops, she went overboard.

Near the third funnel, a man clutched the ship's rail. He stared down as the deck split right between his feet. A yawning chasm opened with a thunder of breaking steel. Denzel, Sora's butler, clutched the railing on the roof of the officer's dining area. He watched in horror as the ship's structure ripped apart right in front of him. He gaped down into a widening maw, seeing straight down into the bowels of the ship, amid a booming concussion like the sound of artillery. People falling into the widening crevasse looked like dolls.

The cables on the funnel parted and snapped across the decks like whips, ripping off davits and ventilators. A man was hit by a whipping cable and was snatched. Another cable smashed the rail next to Denzel and it ripped free. He fell backward into the pit of jagged metal. That had to have hurt.

Fires, explosions, and sparks lit the yawning chasm as the hull split down through nine decks. The sea poured into the gaping wound. These explosions covered up the sound of a very angered man screaming "NOOOOOOO!" that would have echoed across the water otherwise. This very angered man was most likely Sephiroth, unable to kill Aerith in this odd, backwater world. The ominous figure flew away into the darkness, completely ignored by the people on deck. This whole attempt just ended up in years of therapy for poor Sephy.

In the Engine Room, it was a thundering black hell. Men screamed as monstrous machinery came apart around them, steel frames twisting like taffy. Their torches illuminated the roaring, foaming demon of water as it raced through the machines. Trying to climb, they were overtaken in seconds.

* * *

The stern half of the ship, almost four hundred feet long, fell back toward the water. On the poop deck, everyone screamed as they felt themselves plummeting. The sound went up like the roar of fans at a baseball stadium when a run is scored. One random voice questioned, "_Why_ is it called a _poop deck!"_ The question went unanswered, which was understandable, since they were falling.

Swimming in the water directly under the stern, a few unfortunates shrieked as they saw the ship coming down on them. The massive stern section fell back almost level, thundering down into the sea and pushing out a mighty wave of displaced water.

Riku and Sora struggled to hold onto the stern rail as they felt the ship seemingly right itself. Some of those praying thought it was salvation. "We're saved!" many yelled, but Riku shook his head grimly. The horrible mechanics played out. Pulled down by the weight of the flooded bow, the buoyant stern tilted up rapidly. They felt the rush of ascent as the boat tail angled up again. Everyone was clinging to benches, railings, ventilators, anything to keep from sliding as the stern lifted. The back of the ship went up and up, past forty-five degrees, then past sixty. People began to fall, sliding and tumbling down the deck, screaming and flailing to grab onto something. Some wrenched other people loose and pulled them down as well, and there was a pile-up of bodies at the forward rail.

"We have to move!" Riku climbed over the stern rail and reached back for Sora. The pale brunette was too terrified to move. "Come on! I've got you," Riku screamed at him, grabbing his hand. "Stop being a girl!"

Sora found some sort of new strength by that comment, and Riku was able to pull him over the rail. It was the same place he pulled him over the rail two nights earlier, only going the other direction. I can't seem to say that enough! Sora got over just as the railing was going horizontal and the deck vertical. Riku gripped him fiercely, holding Sora close.

The stern was now straight up in the air, a rumbling black mass standing against the stars. It hung there like that for a long moment, its buoyancy stable. Sora lay on the railing, looking down fifteen stories to the boiling sea at the base of the stern section. People near them that didn't climb over, hung from the railing, their legs dangling over the long drop. They fell one by one, plummeting down the vertical face of the poop deck. Some of them bounced horribly off deck benches and ventilators.

Riku and Sora lay side-by-side on what was the vertical face of the hull, gripping the railing, which was now horizontal. Just beneath their feet were the gold letters _TITANIC_emblazoned across the stern.

Sora stared down at the black ocean waiting below to claim them. Riku looked to his left and saw a man, crouching on the hull, holding onto the railing. The man, most likely drunk, nodded for a greeting. "Hell of a night."

The final relentless plunge began as the stern section flooded. Looking down a hundred feet to the water, it dropped like an elevator

Riku spoke quickly, yelling over the roar of the water. "Take a deep breath and hold it right before we go into the water. The ship will suck us down. Kick for the surface and keep kicking. Don't let go of my hand. We're gonna make it, Sora. Trust me."

Sora stared at the water coming up at them and gripped Riku's cold hand harder. "I trust you... sort of."

Below them, the deck was disappearing under the roaring water. The plunge gathered speed and the boiling surface engulfed the docking bridge. The stern descend into the boiling sea and_ Titanic_disappeared, the tiny figures of Riku and Sora vanishing under the water.

There was nothing. Where the ship once stood, there was only now the black ocean and the dots for people within it.

* * *


	10. Never Letting Go

**Warning: This is the story where bishies come to DIE. **

* * *

Under the dark water, bodies whirled and spun, some limp as dolls, others struggling spasmodically as the vortex sucked and tumbled them down. Riku rose, kicking hard for the surface, and placed his arm tightly around Sora, pulling him up. The surface was a boisterous chaos of screaming, thrashing people. Over a thousand men and women were now floating where the ship had once been; some were stunned, gasping for breath. Others were crying, praying, moaning, shouting, and yelling.

Riku and Sora surfaced among them. They barely had time to gasp for air before people were clawing at them, driven insane by the freezing water. A man pulled Sora under, trying to climb on top of him, senselessly trying to get out of the water. Riku punched him repeatedly in the nose, pulling Sora free and away from the scene. "Swim, Sora!" he yelled, dragging Sora behind him.

He tried, his lifejacket hindering his strokes. They soon broke out of the clot of people; Riku looked around to find some kind of floatation, anything to get Sora out of the freezing water. "Keep swimming. Keep moving. Come on, you can do it," he said, repeating it over and over. All about them there were tremendous wails, screams and moans—a chorus of tormented souls—and beyond that, nothing but black water stretching to the horizon.

* * *

Riku stroke rhythmically, the effort keeping him from freezing. "Look for something floating. Some debris or wood. _Anything._"

Sora tried to keeping moving. "It's so cold."

"I know, I know. Help me, here and look around."

Riku's words kept Sora focused, taking his mind off the wailing around them. He scanned the water, panting and barely able to draw a breath. He turned and screamed; a devil was right in front of his face. It was the black French Bulldog, swimming right at him like a sea monster in the darkness, its coal eyes bugging. It motored past him, like it is headed for Newfoundland. I'm sure you'd scream, too, if something that looked like an ass swam close to you. Or not..

Beyond it, Sora saw something in the water. "What's that?"

It was a piece of intricately carved wooden debris, and they made their way to it together. Riku pushed him up and he slithered onto it belly down. When Riku tried to climb onto it, it tilted and submerged, almost dumping Sora off, not big enough to support them both. He clung to it, close to Sora, keeping his upper body out of the water as best he could.

Their breath floated around them in a cloud as they panted from exertion. A man swam toward them, homing in on the piece of debris like an ant. Riku warned him back. "It's just enough for him. You'll push it under."

"Let me try, at least, or I'll die soon!"

"You'll die quicker if you come any closer!"

The man was all too calm. "Yes, I see. Good luck to you then," he said, swimming away. "God bless."

"Yeah, up yours, buddy!" Riku yelled, giving the man a rude gesture. I mean really, there's a characteristic of an adulterer if I've ever seen one.

* * *

The row boat was overloaded and half-flooded; men clung to the sides in the water. Others, swimming, were drawn to it as their only hope. Kairi, standing inside it, slapped her oar in the water as a warning. "Stay back! Keep off!"

Axel, exhausted and near his limit, made it almost to the boat. Kairi clubbed him with the oar, cutting open his scalp. The blood from his head blended into the color of his hair and slowly spilled out into the water. Nevertheless, his hope carried him on. "Please. I have to get to America," he said to her, reaching out his hand.

Kairi pointed with the oar. "It's_ that_ way!"

Axel floated, panting each breath in agony. The spirit left him as he lowered his arm back into the water. He watched Kairi in slow-motion death, yelling and wielding the oar, a demon in a dress. It is what gives children nightmares. His vision faded to black.

Let us take this moment to mourn the Death of Axel. Again. The guy just can't get a break, can he?

Okay! Moving on!

* * *

Riku and Sora were still stranded amid a chorus of the damned. Riku watched Demyx blowing his whistle furiously, knowing the sound would carry over the water for miles. "The boats will come back for us, Sora," he said, grinning confidently. "Hold on just a little longer. They had to row away for the suction and now they'll be coming back."

Sora nodded. He was shivering uncontrollably, his lips blue and his teeth chattering. "Thank God for you, Riku."

People were still screaming, calling to the lifeboats. "Come back! Please! We know you can hear us!"

* * *

In Boat Six, the first class women didn't say a word. Stunned, they listening to the sounds of hundreds screaming. Xigbar argued with Olette, the only entertainment for the members aboard the boat. "They'll pull us right down!"

"Oh, knock it off! Come on, girls, grab your oars. Let's go."

No one moved.

"Well, come on!" The women wouldn't meet her eyes. They huddled into their ermine wraps. "I don't understand anyone of you. What's the matter with you? It's your men back there! We have plenty of room for more."

Xigbar's voice shook from the cold. "If you don't shut that hole in your face, there'll be one _less _in this boat!"

"You suck at math. There's already one less! We could at least replace the vacancy!"

In Boat One, Xemnas and Selphie sat with ten other people in a boat that was two-thirds empty. They were two hundred yards from the screaming in the darkness.

One man spoke up. "We should do something."

Selphie squeezed Xemnas' hand and pleaded him with her eyes. "It's out of the question," Xemnas replied. The crewmembers, intimidated by a nobleman, acquiesced. They hunched guiltily, hoping the sound would stop soon. Twenty boats, most half full, floated in the darkness, and none of them made a move.

Cruel bastards.

* * *

Riku and Sora drifted under the blazing stars. The water was glassy, with only the faintest undulating swell, the stars reflecting on the black mirror of the sea. Riku squeezed the water out of Sora's long coat, tucking it in tightly around his legs, his face chalk.

"It's getting quiet," Sora whispered.

"Just a few more minutes, Sora. It'll take them a while to get the boats organized," Riku assured.

Sora was unmoving, staring into space. He knew the truth. There wouldn't be any boats. Behind Riku, he noticed that Demyx had stopped moving. He was slumped in his lifejacket, looking almost asleep, dead from the exposure.

A dramatic tear fell into the water, the source of it unknown. That is how we respond to the death of a bishie.

"I don't know about you, but I intend to write a strongly worded letter to the White Star Line about all this," Riku joked, his voice cracking.

Sora laughed weakly, but it sounded more like a gasp of fear. He found Riku's eyes in the dim light. "I love you Riku."

Riku took his hand. "No, don't say your goodbyes, Sora. Don't you give up yet."

"Goodbye? I said I love you, and you think I mean _goodbye__?_ Are you scared of commitment?"

"No, Sora."

"Damn straight."A tear fell from his eye. A full mood swing. "I'm so cold."

"You're going to get out of this. You're going to go on and you're going to have babies and watch them grow and you're going to die an old, _old_ man, warm in your bed. Not here, not this night. Do you understand me?"

Sora shook his head. "I don't think some of the readers like MPreg, Riku."

"Sora, listen to me. Winning that ticket was the best thing that ever happened to me." Riku was having trouble getting the breath to speak. "It brought me to you, and I'm thankful for that, Sora."

Well, Riku didn't _win_ the ticket, but I guess it must have sounded cooler or something. Or he forgot. Or he didn't want Sora to know he sacrificed a hat for the tickets. For shame.

His voice was trembling with the cold, but his eyes were unwavering. "You must do me this honor. Promise me you will survive, that you will never give up no matter what happens, no matter how hopeless. Promise me now, and never let go of that."

"I promise."

"Never let go, Sora."

"I promise. I'll never let go, Riku," the brunette said, taking it in literal sense. "I'll never let go. That is unless less I have to scratch my ass or something, _then_ you're screwed."

Sora gripped Riku's hand and they lay with their heads together. It was quiet now, except for the lapping of the water.

* * *

Saïx had Boats Ten, Twelve and Collapsible D together with his own, Boat Fourteen. A demon of energy, he had everyone hold the boats together and transferred passengers from Fourteen into the others, to empty his boat for a rescue attempt. As a women stepped gingerly across the other boats, Saïx noticed a covered figure in too much of a hurry. He ripped off the person's shall and found himself staring into the face of a man. He angrily shoved the stowaway into another boat and turned to his crew of three.

"Right. Man the oars."

* * *

The beam of an electric torch played across the water like a searchlight as Boat Fourteen came forward. The torch illuminated floating debris and a poignant trail of wreckage: a violin, a child's wooden soldier, a framed photo of a steerage family, and series of nude magazines with Saïx's naked body gracing the covers. One of his fellow crewmen fished one out with an oar and shoved it in Saïx's face with a smug smile.

Saïx refused to look the man in the eyes. "Uhhh... I was young. I ... needed the money..."

Then, their white lifebelts bobbing in the darkness like signposts, the first bodies came into the torch's beam. They were all dead, killed by the freezing water. Some looked like they could have been sleeping. Others stared with frozen eyes at the stars.

The bodies became so thick that the seamen couldn't row. They hit the oars on the heads of floating men and women accidently, and one seaman threw up. Saïx saw a mother floating with her arms frozen around her lifeless baby. He gulped. "We waited too long."

Riku and Sora floated peacefully in the black water. The stars reflected in the mill pond surface, and the two of them seemed to be suspended in interstellar space. They were absolutely still, their hands locked together. Sora stared upward at the canopy of stars wheeling above him. As the long sleep stole over Sora, he felt tranquility. The brunette's face was pale like the faces of the dead, and he seemed to be floating in a void. In a semi-hallucinatory state, he knew he was dying. His lips barely moved as he sang a scrap of the hymn 'O Ye What a Confusing Song This Is'.

The Milky Way was a glorious band from horizon to horizon. A shooting star flared, a line of light across the heavens. His hair was dusted with frost crystals. His eyes tracked down from the stars to the water. "Riku, I guess a soul has …just gone to heaven..."

The silhouette of the boat crossed the stars. Sora saw men in it, rowing slowly as the oars lifted out of the syrupy water, leaving weightless pearls floating in the air. Their voices sounded slow and distorted. The lookout flashed his torch toward the brunette and the light flared across the water, silhouetting the bobbing corpses in between. It flicked past his motionless form and moved on, the men quickly looking away.

Sora lifted his head to turn to Riku, his hair frozen to the wood under him. His voice was barely audible. "Riku." He touched Riku's shoulder with his free hand. Riku didn't respond. Sora gently turned Riku's face toward him; it was rimed with frost. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Sora could only stare at his still face as the realization went through him. "Oh, Riku."All hope, will, and spirit left him. He looked at the boat. It was much further away now, the voices fainter. He closed his eyes. He was too weak, and there just seemed to be no reason to even try.

But, only a moment later, his eyes snapped open. He raised his head suddenly, cracking the ice as he ripped his hair off the wood. I mean, it defies gravity anyway. He called out, but his voice barely made past a whisper. The boat was invisible now, the torch light a star impossibly far away. He struggled to draw breath, calling again.

In the boat, Saïx heard nothing behind him. He pointed to something ahead, turning the tiller.

Sora struggled to move. His hand, he realized, was frozen to his lover's. He breathed on it, melting the ice, and he gently unclasped their hands, breaking away a thin tinkling film. "I won't let go. I promise," he said softly, planning to drag Riku's body with his.

Something suddenly caught his eye. He turned, staring at a piece of a gold plate. His eyes widened in fascination. "Ooh… shiny…"

His hand released Riku's and he sunk into the black water, fading out like a spirit returning to some immaterial plane. Sora turned away from the shiny object to see nothing but small ripples in the ocean, Riku long gone beneath the water. His mouth fell open. "Oh my god! Shit! I let go! Damn it! There goes _another_ damn promise!"

Sora rolled off the floating object and plunged into the icy water with a hiss. He swam as best he could to Demyx's body, holding onto his frozen body. He pulled the whistle from the man's mouth and started to blow into it with all the strength in his body. Its sound slapped across the still water.

In Boat Fourteen, Saïx whipped around at the sound of the whistle. "Row back! That way! Pull!" he yelled at his crew. Sora continued to blow, even as the boat came to him. He was still blowing when Saïx took the whistle from his mouth as they hauled him into the boa. He slipped into unconsciousness and they scrambled to cover him with blankets.

* * *

"Fifteen hundred people went into the sea when Titanic sank from under us. There were twenty boats floating nearby and only one came back. Six were saved from the water, myself included. Six out of fifteen hundred."

It was now present day. Yuna, Rikku, Paine, and the others stared at him, completely silent. With his story, Sora had put them on Titanic in its final hours, and or the first time, they felt like grave robbers. Yuna, for the first time, had even forgotten to ask about the diamond.

"Afterward, the seven hundred people in the boats had nothing to do but wait. Wait to die, wait to live, wait for an absolution which would never come."

* * *

Boat after boat rushed through the water. Seifer sat in a trance, staring at the horizon. He was trembling, having not moved since hours before. On another boat, Kairi sipped from a glass offered to her by a stoker, her arms aching from holding the oars. In Boat Fourteen, only Sora's face was visible underneath the blankets, white as the moon. The man next to him jumped up, pointing and yelling. Saïx lit a green flare and waved it as everyone around him shouted and cheered. Sora, however, did not react; he stared numbly at the light bouncing off of his skin, floating beyond all human emotion.

Golden light washed across the white boats that glowed in a calm sea, reflecting the rosy sky. All around them, like a fleet of sailing ships, were icebergs. The _Carpathia_ sat nearby as the boats rowed toward it.

* * *

Sora stared at nothingness, his face blank as he was rocked by the sea. The letters _Carpathia_ loomed above his head, visible on the bow of the ship. Seamen helped survivors up the rope ladder to the _Carpathia_'s gangway doors. Sora, outside of time, outside of himself, made his way up to the ship, barely able to stand. He was given hot tea as he climbed the walkway and draped with more warm blankets. Seifer Almasy climbed aboard afterward, unable to speak. As he walked along the hall, guided by a crewman toward the doctor's cabin, he passed rows of seated and standing widows. Their accusing gazes pierced his soul.

* * *

It was the afternoon of the fifteenth of April. Kairi searched the faces of the widows lining the deck, looking determinedly for her lost fiancée. The deck of _Carpathia _was crammed with huddled people, even the recovered lifeboats of _Titanic_. On a hatch cover sat an enormous pile of lifebelts. She continued walking toward the stern. Seeing Kairi's elegant dress, a steward approached her. "You won't find any of your people back here, miss. It's all steerage."

Kairi ignored him and went amongst the wrecked group, looking under shawls and blankets at one bleak face after another. The brunette sat nearby, drinking hot tea as she unknowingly passed him. His head was completely hidden by the blanket as his red-rimmed, tired eyes watched her movements carefully. Sora's features hardened beneath the covering of fabric, clenching his jaw. The auburn haired beauty made only one trip around the deck, soon giving up and making her way back up the stairs to the first class.

_That was the last time I ever saw her. She married, of course, and her husband inherited millions. The crash of 29 hit his interests hard, and he put a pistol in his mouth that year. His children and Kairi fought over the scraps of his estate like hyenas, or so I read._

Sora stood at the railing of the _Carpathia_. He gazed up at the Statue of Liberty, looking just as it does today, welcoming him home with its glowing torch. It was just as Axel saw it so clearly in his mind. The ship disgorged the survivors at the pier, and over thirty thousand people lined the dock and filled the surrounding streets. The magnesium flash of the photographers went off like small bombs. Several hundred police kept the mob back, pushing them forcefully. The dock was packed with friends and relatives, officials, ambulances, and the press.

Sora covered himself with a woolen shawl and walked with a group of steerage passengers. An officer steered him toward a holding area for processing, and he walked forward with the dazed immigrants. The boom of photographer's flashes caused Sora to flinch, the glare blinding. There was a sudden disturbance near him as two men burst through the line of police, running to embrace an older woman along the survivors. The reporters converged on this emotional scene and flashes exploded.

Sora used that moment to slip away into the crowd. He pushed through the jostling people, moving with purpose, and none challenged him in the confusion.

_Can you exchange one life for another? A caterpillar turns into a butterfly. If a mindless insect can do it, why couldn't I? Was it any more unimaginable than the sinking of the Titanic?_

He walked away, further and further until the flashes and the roars were far behind him.

* * *

Old Sora sat in his wheelchair, the room lit by the blue glow of the screens. He held the previously thrown comb in his gnarled hands.

"We never found anything on Riku. There's no record of him at all," Paine said, moving away from the computer.

Sora chuckled. "No, there wouldn't be, would there? And I've never spoken of him until now, not to anyone," he said, looking toward Tidus. "Not even your grandmother. A man's heart is a deep ocean of secrets, but now you all know there was a man named Riku Dawson, and that he saved me, in every way that a person can be saved… except mentally. He didn't make me smarter."

Tidus stood in complete shock. "Y-You're _gay_? And Grannie doesn't _know_?"

"So you went straight, to gay, to straight again?" Rikku asked, dumbfounded. The math didn't make sense. Sora just ignored her, closing his eyes.

"I don't even have a picture of him. He exists now only in my memory."

* * *

Old Sora walked through the shadows of the deck machinery, his white pajamas blowing in the wind. His feet were bare and his hands were clutched at his chest, almost as if he were praying, which is a bad thing. Aerith is a perfect example of why people should never pray in open spaces.

Yuna and Tidus ran down the stairs from the top deck. Sora reached the stern rail, wrapping his gnarled fingers over the metal. His ancient foot stepped up on the gunwale and he pushed himself up, leaning forward and staring down at the black water glinting far below.

Yuna and Tidus caught up to him shortly after, stopping only a few feet behind him. Sora turned his head, looking at them smugly. He then turned further, letting the object in his hand dangle as he prepared to drop it overboard.

It was the Heart of the Ocean, still as beautiful and bright blue as ever. The young treasure hunter saw nothing but her holy grail dangerously suspended in the air. Yuna's eyes went wide, her hand held outward for it. The brunette smartly kept it over the railing, threatening to drop it at any time.

"Don't come any closer," Sora said, smiling deviously.

Yuna was outraged, drawing her hand back. "You had it the entire time!"

Sora's eyes flickered. He remembered himself, a younger man, walking away from the pier as the photographers' flashes went off like a battle behind him. He placed his hands in his coat pockets, walking forward with determination. He suddenly stopped, feeling something, and he pulled out the famed necklace, staring at it in amazement.

Back on the deck in present day, Sora smiled at Yuna's incomprehension. "The hardest part about being so poor was being so rich. But every time I thought of selling it, I thought of Kairi and somehow, I always got by without her help." He held it out further over the water just as Rikku and Paine hurried over, quickly reacting to the object in his hand.

"Don't drop it, Sora," Yuna pleaded.

Paine whispered to her fiercely. "Get it!"

"It's _his_, you damn idiot," Yuna growled, looking back at Sora. "Look, Sora, I don't know what to say to a man who tries to jump off the Titanic when it's not sinking, and jumps back onto it when it is. We're not dealing with logic here, I know that, but please think about this a second."

"I have," he said, gazing up at the heavens. "I came all the way here so that I could return this to where it belongs."

The massive diamond glittered. Yuna took a step closer, holding out her hand eagerly once again. "Just let me hold it, Sora. Please. Just once."

She came ever closer to him, reminiscent of Riku slowly moving up to him at the stern of Titanic, only Sora wasn't ready to attack her. Instead, he calmly placed the massive stone in the palm of her hand while still holding onto the necklace. Yuna gazed at the mesmerizing object of her quest. It fit in her hand just like she imagined. Her grip tightened on the diamond. She looked up, meeting his now cold gaze. "You look for treasures in the wrong place, Yuna. Only life is priceless, and we must make each day count. Ha, I totally just quoted Riku."

Her fingers relaxed, opening them slowly. As Sora gently slipped the diamond out of her hand, she felt it sliding away like a lost child. Then, with an impish little grin, Sora tossed the necklace over the rail. Rikku gave a strangled cry and rushed to the rail in time to see it hit the water and disappear forever.

"Aww! That really sucks, man!"

Sora smiled and looked up at the stars. "I've seen him for years now."

"What?" Paine asked, looking away from weird couple dancing on the deck.

"Did I ever tell you I saw dead people? In my past life… it was weird, I was this kid… and there was this dead guy…"

"Sora! Get to the point!"

"Oh, right. I've seen him for years now. He has always been there to comfort me, never leaving me alone all these years. He, however, disappeared recently, and I haven't seen him since. I think he's just been sticking around for me. He's just been waiting, and I guess right around now, my Riku is getting ready. Ready for the day we truly die together."

In the black water below them, the Heart of the Ocean sunk, twinkling end over end into the infinite depths.

* * *

In Sora's cabin, the shelf above his bead consisted of carefully arranged pictures, memories of his life caught inside photos. One showed Sora as a young actor in California, radiant and full of energy. Another showed Sora and his wife with their two children in a studio publicity shot. The one next to it was Sora and Tidus at his college graduation and another with his children and grandchildren at his seventh birthday. It was a collage of images of a life lived well.

The image furthest to the left was a picture of Sora in 1920. He was at the beach, sitting on a horse in the surf life with the Santa Monica pier and its rollercoaster behind him. He was ginning at the camera, his eyes shining with incandescent happiness. Below the shelf of photos, Sora lay warm in his bunk, very still in the darkness as the words of Riku rang in his ears.

"_You're going to get out of this. You're going to go on and you're going to have babies and watch them grow and you're going to die an old, __old__ man, warm in your bed. Not here, not this night. Do you understand me?"_

* * *

The wreck of the Titanic loomed like a ghost out of the dark, lit by a kind of moonlight, a light of the mind. Inside, the echoing sound of distant waltz music was heard as the rust faded away from the walls of the dark corridor, transformed. Now the grand room, the door was gently opened by a young man in a suit. The music suddenly became clearer, the room populated by men in evening dress and women in gowns. It was exquisitely beautiful, like an old photograph come to life.

Around the room were many familiar faces, all of which were lost in the sea. Leon Leonhart and Cloud were the first recognized, beaming. A few elegant looking gentlemen and women passed, all remembered from Sora's world. On the right side of the staircase, Axel poked Roxas' sides while the blonde tried to look 'cool.' Young Naminé smacked the redhead on the hand, signaling the arrival of the new guest.

Said guest _would have _swept up the stair case illuminated in gold. At the top, a man _would have_ stood with his back facing the crowd. He _would have_ turned just as the new visitor was halfway up the steps, revealing himself to be Riku, his silver strands of hair lightly shimmering. Smiling, he _would have_ held his hand out.

Sora _would have_ gone into his arms, a boy of seventeen. On the second story, Cid and all the other officers, including Demyx, Zexion, and Marluxia, _would have_ watched as they shared a kiss, Sora's hands reaching around Riku's neck. The passengers, officers, and crew of the RMS Titanic _would have_ smiled and applauded in the utter silence of the abyss.

Yes, all of these events _would have_ happened, were it not for the conveniently placed foot at the bottom of the grand staircase, courtesy of Axel. Sora did not make it up the staircase, he did not walk into Riku's arms, and no one applauded the eerie afterlife.

Instead, the brunette tripped over said foot and fell gracefully on his face.

Fail.

* * *

**TITANIC**

* * *

**CAST:**

Jack Dawson: Riku

Rose De Witt Bukater: Sora

Caldon Hockley: Kairi

Spicer Lovejoy: Cloud

Thomas Andrews: Leon Leonhart

Fabrizio De Rossi: Axel

Tommy Ryan: Roxas

Ruth De Witt Bukater: Yuffie

Margret (Molly) Brown: Olette

Captain Smith: Cid

J. Bruce Ismay: Seifer Almasy

First Officer Murdoch: Pence

Moody: Larxene

Lookout Fleet: Kadaj

Lookout Lee: Yazoo

Ship's Carpenter John Hutchinson: Loz

Chief Engineer Bell: Marluxia

Junior Wireless Operator Bride: Zexion

Fifth Offier Lowe: Saïx

Quartermaster Hitchins: Xigbar

Lightoller: Demyx

Quartermaster Rowe: Vincent Valentine

Fourth Officer Boxhall: Auron

Countess Rothes: Aerith Gainsborough

John Jacob Astor: Wakka

Madeline: Lulu

Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon: Xemnas

Lucile Lady Duff-Gordon: Selphie

Colonel Gracie: Merlin

Benjamin Guggenheim: Hayner

Madame Aubert: Fuu

Brock Lovett: Yuna

Lewis Bodine: Rikku

Bobby Buell: Paine

Lizzy: Tidus

Californian Cheif Wireless Operator: Nero

Californian Junior Wireless Operator: Weiss

Cora: Namine

Olaf: Setzer

Sven: Luxord

Maid Trudy: Marlene

Maid April: Denzel

* * *

**Tsuki:** I am very sad that this ended. Of course, I had to add the cast list just in case anyone got confused as to who was playing who. During the course of writing and editing this story for the second time, I had to watch the movie multiple times. I get this unbearable urge to do so whenever I work on this. Maybe others do, too, when they read this. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and maybe it will be better-written next year.

**Ame:** I'M FREE! BWAHAHA! MY CONTRACT THAT DOESN'T ACTUALLY EXIST HAS ENDED! FREE! … Ahem… I'm totally kidding… adding random stupidity to random non-stupidity to create random-not-so-stupidity is my dream. (eyeroll) joking! I had fun doing this! … Reading what I just wrote… does that make ANY sense?... Does ANYTHING I write make sense?

**Thanks to all our reviewers, people who added this story to their favorites and/or alerts, and of course, to our readers! We love you!**

**On that note. We did not mean to insult: KFed. Courtney Love. The French. The Media OR the Paparazzi. Okay.. Fine, KFed was intentional…**

_**Smurf on, readers, smurf on!**_

* * *


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